Two church officials jailed for contempt in leadership row
The Maua Magistrate's Court.
Two outspoken officials of a splinter group in the Methodist Church in Kenya (MCK) have been jailed for three months for contempt of court in a leadership row.
Maua Chief Magistrate Tito Gesora found former bishop Meshach Kanake and Jacob Gituma guilty of using MCK property, including church buildings, logo and letterhead, to run their splinter Mt Kenya regional conference.
In a ruling on Thursday, the magistrate gave the two the option of paying a Sh50,000 fine each to avoid prison.
The court noted that the two were interfering with the smooth running of MCK, which has over 450,000 members in the region.
Mr Gesora also warned the splinter group opposed to the leadership of Presiding Bishop Joseph Ntombura of stiffer penalties if they were cited for the offences again.
The MCK’s registered trustees had accused the two of overseeing the taking over of the Urra, Kiumone and Kamiruru churches.
Through lawyer Hoseah Mutembei, the trustees told the court that the two had attempted to use church property when Bishop Kanake was being installed as the president of the Mt Kenya conference.
Bishop Kanake sits at the apex of the conference and oversees pastoral care, while Bishop Gituma is in charge of the Nyambene synod.
This is the second conference to secede, after members of the Mombasa region formed the Methodist Church in Kenya Coast Region Conference, headed by Bishop Wellington Sanga.
The Mt Kenya conference, which forms the backbone of the 450,000-member church, will serve Northern Kenya, Meru, Embu, Laikipia, Nyeri and Nyandarua.
