Pastor James Ng’ang’a back in pulpit after facing charges

Pastor James Ng’ang’a was back in the pulpit on Sunday after a busy week of arrests and court appearances.

He spent most of the afternoon on Sunday preaching to a full congregation at the Neno Evangelism Centre in Nairobi.

Uniformed and armed police officers kept watch at the gate and the church entrance. However, the usual security checks were left to un-uniformed guards.

Pastor Ng’ang’a spent two nights at the Gigiri Police Station but is now out on a Sh500,000 bond after pleading not guilty to a raft of charges in a Limuru,Kiambu County, court.

He is accused of causing the death of Ms Mercy Njeri through reckless driving on the evening of July 26 on the Nairobi-Naivasha highway.

DENIED THE CHARGES

He was arrested on Wednesday last week after witnesses identified him as the one who was driving the red Range Rover that caused the crash.

Pastor Ng’ang’a has repeatedly denied the charges, saying he was neither driving the vehicle nor at the scene when the crash happened.

He also denied failing to report an accident within 24 hours, giving false information to police and conspiring to defeat justice.

Two police officers accused alongside the preacher with attempting to thwart justice by giving false information are also out on a cash bail of Sh50,000 each, as is a Mr Simon Kuria, who posed as the driver of the crash vehicle to allegedly shield Pastor Ng’ang’a from prosecution.

The preacher was thrust into the media limelight once again on Thursday evening when police reported that thugs had broken into his home in Karen and stolen Sh500,000, laptops and mobile phones.

Journalists who tried to access the house to cover the incident were harassed by the pastor’s security guards, with a cameraman sustaining injuries and losing his camera to the guards.