The gods of western Kenya: Spiritual liberation or dementia?

Western Kenya, specifically the Luhya nation, has been in the limelight for many years. Luhya is perhaps the only Kenyan community that has produced "gods" in human form - with flesh, blood, etc.

The region is full of drama involving religious sects and their leaders who claim to be "Jesus". These gods are revered by their adherents who can go to any lengths to get their anointing or blessings.

Some of these self-proclaimed gods and prophets say they will not die, but if they do, they will resurrect and bring salvation to humankind. As if to vindicate Karl Marx who opined that "religion is the opium of the people", the fanaticism these gods invoke in their followers is stupendous. They will do anything, virtually everything, that their leaders command them to do.

Jesus of Tongaren

The latest of the gods is Eliud Simiyu, jokingly referred to as "Jesus of Tongaren" in Bungoma County who hit media headlines a few weeks ago and continues to hog the limelight. The Jesus of Tongaren recently made the sensational claim that only two residents of Nairobi would make it to heaven, and they were yet to be born. According to Jesus of Tongaren, only 168,000 people in the entire world will enter heaven.

Members of New Jerusalem sect in Lukhokwe village Tongaren constituency in Bungoma County claim that God showed visions to three of its members and revealed that he would be visiting "Jerusalem" from February 24 to 26, 2023.

His sect members believe that Lukhokwe village is the Biblical Jerusalem - the city where Jesus Christ was brought up as a child, preached the gospel, and performed miracles. Sect members believe that their visions and dreams are a true revelation from God that must be acted upon.

The Jesus of Tongaren has enforced a strict code of dress for his members and must adhere to certain beliefs he has in place to maintain the purity of his church. Church members claim that what they put on during worship is revealed to each member the previous day.

"The colour and design of the clothes my members put on are not similar, they are different based on different visions and dreams they receive" said Jesus of Tongaren. Every member of the New Jerusalem sect is referred to as an angel or prophet and are prohibited from using their official names as they appear on their National Identification cards.

A new Holy Book

The dreams and visions that sect members get are recorded in a black book that will then be translated into a new bible which they call "Agano Jipya Safi" (Pure New Testament).

When sect members come to Jerusalem (Lukhokwe village), they must pass through a cleansing hut to repent their sins first. According to Jesus of Tongaren, God requires people to repent their sins before entering the temple, but the temple has no water for cleansing. To the New Jerusalem sect, cleansing is done by a spirit, not with the normal water that people know.

The sect holds three festivals a year - New Year, July and October - each celebrated for three days where goats, sheep and cows are slaughtered. Members of the church worship on two days: Saturday and Sunday.

The sect does not allow women worshippers to enter the church in trousers, wigs, or makeup. Men are prohibited from sporting the Mohawk hairstyle, which is considered as the mark of the beast (666).

"Women who wear trousers, makeup, rings or wigs already have the mark of the beast" Jesus of Tongaren declares. In church, Jesus of Tongaren sits in front with his wife who he calls "Queen" or the "Blessed One" while his 11 disciples sit beside the couple. His wife is among the 12 disciples.

All worshippers must address Jesus of Tongaren: "The Holy One" three times before saying anything in the church.

The worshippers on fast spend days and nights inside a special hut and are not allowed to get outside unless they are going to relieve themselves.

Those who fast for three days are not allowed to drink or eat anything. Worshippers who fast for seven days are allowed to drink only one glass of water every evening. Those who fast for 40 days are required to drink only one cup of black tea daily but are prohibited from drinking water or eating food.

Jesus of Tongaren is married and the father of eight "because Jesus, who was prophesied by Isaiah, was supposed to marry and have a family".

The region has had many self-proclaimed prophets and gods whom the followers still believe and worship to get blessings.

Jehovah Wanyonyi

Before Jesus of Tongaren, there was Jehovah Wanyonyi, the self-proclaimed god and leader of the Lost Israelites Ministries from Chemororoch area in Bungoma County who found time from his "heavenly" duties to look after more than 70 wives, a majority of whom were aged between 14 and 18 years.

Jehovah Wanyonyi claimed he could cure various diseases such as Aids, cancer, and hypertension. So "powerful" was Wanyonyi that there was a time he demanded Sh3 billion from the Kenyan government, lest he punished the country with HIV and Aids.

When he passed on in 2015, aged 98, his followers were told to fast and await his resurrection after three days. Well, they are still waiting.

Much earlier, there was Dini Ya Msambwa, the once fiercely anti-colonial religion, founded by Luhya prominent Prophet Elijah Masinde who was born in 1910 in present-day Kimilili. Masinde founded Dini ya Msambwa when he left the Friends' Church in 1935 after the church objected to his plans to take a second wife, a Ugandan.

Eventually, he married a second wife and the Quakers expelled him. He would later marry three other wives and died while having five wives. Among Masinde's prophecies was the one that foretold that the Luhya will get the presidency through the Lake (Nyanza region). Folklore holds that during a football match at Eshieywe in Kakamega he kicked a ball up into the sky and it was never seen nor dropped back and the referee called off the match.

The death of Masinde in 1987 might have diminished its impact, but adherents still follow its dictates.

Last year, his fifth wife, Elizabeth Nakhumicha, said Masinde was not an ordinary human being. She said one moment you would see Masinde as a short man, the next he would become very tall, his complexion changed from time to time.

One would see him today as a dark-skinned man and next, he was fair-skinned.

Masinde assumed the status of a deity within the sect and followers claim that though there are elders in charge of the church today, no one can fit in his shoes.

One of Masinde's believers, Kabule Wanjala, who is the overall clerk of the three regions of Dini ya Msambwa, says he had a religious calling to join Elijah Masinde's mission in 1964.

"I was staying in Uganda in 1964 when I had a dream in which Elijah Masinde appeared and spoke to me, asking me to return home. I honored the dream, returned home, and attended a prayer session that Masinde had called. After the prayers, Masinde asked me to become his clerk, and I accepted".