Kenyan police have since found dozens of bodies from graves connected to a Christian pastor, who is being investigated on allegations that he directed his congregants to starve themselves to death, according to the police and local media reports.
The inspector general for Kenya’s police, Japhet Koome, told reporters that homicide detectives and pathologists had exhumed more than 100 bodies from a series of shallow graves.
Many of the victims are believed to have been members of the Good News International Church, a “suspected religious cult,” according to a statement from Mr. Koome. The small sect, based near the town of Malindi, is led by a pastor, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, who was arrested on 14th April 2023
After the authorities rescued more than 15 people from his property, four of whom were in critical condition and died soon after, according to media reports.
He was arraigned several days later by a judge in the Malindi Law Courts, who said the pastor would be held for two weeks as the police conducted their investigation. Losing 100 and plus people in the name of faith and losing them the way they died through starving, living in bushes and forests like wildlife is not only inhuman but criminal.
In Uganda, early 2000, over 700 people were killed in a church in western Uganda at place-currently called Kanungu district. To date no person has ever been apprehended to answer charges of murder and other associated charges. The ringleaders of Keredonia Mwerinde, Kibwetere, Kataribabo and others are still at large. The relatives are still guessing, dreaming, imagining and wondering the whereabouts of these ringleaders. What’s not doubtable is that hundreds perished including a family where the mother, father and their all children died in this inferno. This literally meant that this home was closed and its lineage ceased.
History perspective.
In 1844 the first two missionaries had arrived at Mombasa, Dr Johann Ludwig Krapf and his wife Rosina.. These Europeans used the same bible to seat in Berlin and divided Africa. Christianity was midwifed to Africa in Europe through the missionaries. When they came, they were reading the same bible that we read and use in churches today. The same bible in Paul letter Galatians in Chapter 3-28, “there are no Jews no gentiles, no slaves no free, no woman no man”. Same Europeans came here in Africa and conquered, discriminated Africans. Europeans went ahead and sliced Christianity and got Anglicans church, Roman Catholics, the Scotts have Presbyterian church, the Greeks- Greek Orthodox, etc. In apartheid of South Africa it’s the Dutch reformed church in 1948 under Hendrik Verwoerd which become the foundation stone on which apartheid was launched. So it’s one bible but different religious sects at times with different message interpretations but claiming one God. The bible has been misused to support slavery, colonization, to prevent the truth. That is the bible that we need to rediscover to help the current and incoming generation to live a sober, fair and just lives.
Current Christians Maneuvers
Africa and other parts of the world continue to see injustices, deaths, fraud, thefts, immorality, and false prophecies in the name of Christianity. We continue to witness many churches coming up but a few schools and hospitals being constructed. Pastors and their cohorts drive posh cars, sleep in million dollar houses, own expanse farms, rent out malls and arcades, fill their closets and wardrobes with signature clothes imported from Europe especially Italy and France. They use 1000-dollar perfumes on their bodies, their ailment and treatment is done in India, Germany and USA. The churchgoers are so poor that their children have to study in government-aided schools that they feed below 1 dollar a day, school fees for their own children is collected from family, friends and relatives. The church subjects can barely buy new clothes, afford a weekly hair shave, and buy sufficient home needs. The little they gather is for ‘my pastor’. Others are partying with 50% of their salaries or total incomes to support pastor and church activities including maintaining pastors’ wife personal needs.
We continue to see pastors selling holy waters, handkerchiefs, mats, wristbands, necklaces all in the name of holy spirit, protection, covering you with blood of Jesus. Women and men of God as they are commonly called have abandoned their careers, businesses, small income generating activities and ventures, to fully attend their church activities that include singing, praying and cell visits. These activities are so good but they do not bring in any income in our homes and the cost of living has never come down. Every single day, the cost of food, housing, education, medical etc increases. These churches only pray for their member when matters of economy are going badly on them. Yes we need church, yes we need the bible, yes we need Christianity but at what cost?
Churches are more than schools and hospitals in Uganda.
But today, most of these churches are largely owned by conmen riding on Jesus’ name to amass wealth, fame and influence, says Pastor Elisha Oumo, formerly a scholar at Kenya’s One Faith Bible College in the western town of Bungoma.
The number of born-again churches in Uganda has grown exponentially in the last decade. Today the country is estimated to have more than 40,000 born-again churches across the country. Of that number, only under 500 churches have decent premises and are registered as non-governmental organisations and allowed to conduct marriage functions. The majority of the churches dotting the country are in makeshift structures built with papyrus, or mud and wattle with grass-thatched roofs.
However, in the upscale parts of cities and towns, churches for the affluent are housed in magnificent buildings where they compete for prime space with banks, insurance firms and top local and international business enterprises. Elsewhere in the poor neighborhoods, the churches are in ramshackle premises.
Unlike establishments owned by the mainstream Anglican Church of Uganda, born-again churches are a property of individual pastors.
“Christianity is under assault from conmen,” echoes Reverend Dr Andrew David Omona, a scholar at the Bishop Tucker School of Theology and Divinity, Uganda Christian University.
Omona argues that because of the deep social and economic troubles facing Ugandans, fake pastors have taken advantage, preaching appealing messages to vulnerable followers. These pastors claim they can bring wealth to the poor, cure the terminally ill, give children to the barren, provide jobs to the jobless and partners to those seeking marriage.
“They are told to ‘sow seeds’ commensurate with their prayer requests and those who fail to comply are shunned,” he added.
Members of the congregation are also cautioned that failing to part with 10% of their monthly income to pay a tithe is a grave sin. In addition, the brethren, as they are fondly referred to, are reminded that giving big offertory and substantial financial support to their churches is abundantly rewarded by God, says Oumo.
Churches and billions of money
It’s very common to see cash in transit-CIT bullion van parked on churches every Sunday. If you doubt this, visit a church near makerere/bwaise, a church that has branches across the city and you will find CIT vans well positioned to take money. CIT vans don’t take 2m or so, they take millions and billions of money. Moreover, this is every Sunday. Who looks at this money in terms of what it does? On average each big church in Kampala has more than 3000 worshippers, on average they collect between 150m to 300m depending upon where the church is positioned, its clientele status and the activity of the week. On average again, the annual collections range between 7bn-15 billion for one church. This is a lot of revenue with no tax on it and no sanctioned expenses either through church projects etc. In most cases, the bank accounts where these monies go are opened in individual name of church names whose directors and signatories are husband and wife. This is a real threat. This only can cause economy imbalance, facilitate crime especially political crimes.
Security agencies-Wake up
Security agencies especially in Uganda have in my opinion not upped the game on church activities. There are silent but bleeding Ugandan churchgoers. They have been impoverished; brain washed and continue to lose their earnings and savings. Pastors own prime properties both in the city and countryside. They own expanse farms, thousands of cows, goats and other animals. They have built and live in billion worth houses. They drive posh cars, they travel quite often and travel first or business class, they own expensive boats that dock at serena Kigo or Munyonyo speak resort. They own malls and other strategic plots of land with in urban center.
Ideally, there is no law or regulation that stop them from acquiring riches, but at what cost? We have seen Fathers, brothers, reverends abandoning their original churches and started their private own churches. It’s not because they have seen a quick short cut to God, it’s because of associated profitable gains of starting a church. Listen to their sermons, when it comes to time of tithe or offertories, the pastors voices are raised, a million examples given, envelopes are colored according to the amount you going to give, for those that want special prayers, they line at pastors door according the color of the envelop.
Security teams especially crime intelligence, ISO pick it up and this time with a solid agenda. You can even create a special division to handle churches especially born again churches. We are seated on a time bomb. Kibwetere and Pastor Nthenge of Kenya are enough examples to trigger a deliberate, calculated actions on balokole churches.
FIA can aid you with their financial history. We see a lot of monitoring on NGOs, the same efforts should be replicated on churches. If you want to qualify my fears, open a general inquiry file on every police station/post, in Uganda and make announcements on radios, TVs, social media, print media calling all Christians who have been fleeced to go to police and register their cases. The turn up maybe unimaginable. Terrorists are not only those that carry fire arms, bombs and bullets; we have civil terrorists that are currently carrying bibles and rosaries. We must learn from Europeans, they came with a bible, next they arrived with colonization, and partitioning of Africa. Africa’s most problems stem from slavery, colonization and religion. Civilization begun in Africa, but currently poverty is a permanent resident in Africa.
Spiritual movements that bear the hallmarks of the Kanungu cult, where devotees unquestioningly believe their pastors can resurrect the dead or that holy water will heal ailments, have continued to emerge across the continent.
The government need to do more in overseeing these spiritual movements. What shall government tell public if another Kibwetere massacre happen. As one historian said, WE have learnt nothing and forgotten something.
Moslems, think and practice one fundamental thing, that the relationship between me and Allah is personal, it doesn’t require a middle man. That is why there are no individual personal mosques. We need to buy this ideal.
Churches should be highly and strictly regulated. We need an Act of parliament to help with this’ industry’ The situation is silently looking ugly. The earlier the government firms up on it the better or else prepare the second coming of Kibwetere.
But me and my family will keep it Anglican and shall always pray either slowly or in silence. The “my Pastor” syndrome must stay away from us. To you Europeans, you brought slave trade in Africa, brought the gun, colonized us, and brought a bible to confuse us more and now you have brought homosexuality. One day, you will reap what you have sowed in Africa over time. Africa is poor largely because of Europeans and Americans.
Samson Tinka
Safety and security consultant.
tindsam@yahoo.com
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