The truth about Jehovah Wanyonyi's 'religious sect'

By Alexander Opicho | 3yrs ago | 3 min read

Jehovah Wanyonyi’s sickness and ‘disappearance’ greeted the pages and sites of all media houses. Both locally and internationally. The digital social media was not been left behind in covering the ‘mysterious disappearance’ of Jehovah Wanyonyi the spiritual leader of the Lost Israel church of Kenya. Surprisingly; most of the local media had been sardonic in the coverage of Wanyonyi’s spiritual practice, sickness and ‘disappearance’.

The reason for this wry position of local media coverage of Wanyonyi's predicament was not clear. Wanyonyi had not been an enemy of the media, the government or the prominent religions such as Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. Thus there was no reason for the media to mock him or his people's spiritual practice whatsoever.

The tendency of the local media giving sarcastic coverage to Wanyonyi’s mysterious demise led to a surprising revelation that the media in Kenya strongly believes that religion must only originate from the East. This is a mindset inspired by the existing religions of Islam and Christianity. They both have the spiritual leadership from the Middle East or Semitic origin through Muhammad and Jesus Christ respectively. The local media is wrong and misplaced. Religion can originate from anywhere and from any community. Not necessarily from Asia, as it has historically been.

All religions are devoid of logic and full of mystery. Not only Wanyonyi’s Lost Israel Church or Masinde’s 'Dini ya Musambwa'. Even Christianity is based on mysteries and indecipherable fables from Abraham to Jesus. Theories like resurrection remain elusive and spiritual will-o-the-wisp till today.

Islam shares in the same measure of mystery and phantasmagoria. If it was Marriage to very many wives that makes Wanyonyi’s Church look ridiculous, then we must stay reminded that this is not only Wanyonyi’s undoing. These ludicrous displays are the strengths that Christians ascribes to Abraham and David. The same virtues which Islam in the chapter called Al Nisa ascribe to Godliness of Islam.

Jehovah Wanyonyi’s spiritual movement began as an anti-colonial spiritual movement. The same case to Elijah Masinde’s 'Dini ya Musambwa'. Wanyonyi used dialogue but Elijah Masinde was militant and guerrilla like. This is the same consciousness that Aime Ceasire the Martinique poet and Negretudist displayed when reacting to French imperial oppression.

Protestant Christianity is strong because of its historical experience of oppression cum persecution and its counter-reaction to these oppressive forces. Islam is now strong and united because of its perceived oppressor; the Western powers. It is in this similar tune that the Babukusu Community of East Africa was able to work as a breeding social ground for Dini ya Musambwa and Lost Israel Church. The colonial repression was harsher on them.

The colonial government described Babukusu community as Ketosh meaning the deviant ones. All other local communities in western Kenya had collaborated with the colonial government and got proselytized into Christian converts apart from the Nandis and the babukusu. This was due to spiritual consciousness and cultural dignity of these two communities. That is why Koitalel arap Samoiei came from the Nandi; While Elijah Masinde came from the Babukusu. These historical facts bind us to treat Jehovah Charles Wanyonyi with dignity as any other spiritual leader.