Worshippers Hold Service Under Police Guard To Prevent Youth From Accessing Church.

A section of the youth who were demonstrating outside Kamahuha PCEA Church for being denied access into the church service on Sunday.

For the third Sunday in a row, the youth in all the Sabasaba PCEA churches were locked out of church services in what seems to be a never ending church row pitting them on one side and the church elders on the other. The bone of contention is the unclear circumstances that led to the transfer of the immediate former pastor Evans Kiugo in Kamahuha PCEA Church.

As song and prayer drifted from the church, armed police stood vigil on the grounds and at the gate as a security measure proposed by the moderator and the church elders to prevent the youth from accessing the church grounds. The security personnel were under strict instructions not to let any one of the youth to gain entry into the church, a mission they ensured happened.

All churches within the parish had been closed down and no service was conducted due to the standoff. Samuel Maina, one of the youth who were agitating for the return of the pastor informed us that other than the Nyati and the Kamahuha churches which had service this Sunday, the rest; Wathiani, Igikiriro, Nyangati and Maganjo had their doors closed and no one was allowed into the premises.

It called for the intervention of the area OCS to calm the youth who were already getting agitated by the behaviour of their seniors and were ready to forcefully enter the church premises.

According to the youth, the parish had been riddled with so many ills that the ousted pastor had started to unearth and address before he was sent to a compulsory leave and later transferred to Ng’enda Parish in Kiambu County. The claim that Kiugo went into loggerheads with the church elders for his stand against misappropriation of the church fund as well as his teaching against immorality in church, something that did not auger well with the seniors who were said to be the biggest culprits.

They also accused one senior church elder of running a liquor club in Kaharati Trading Centre, a matter they claimed, negated the church doctrines.

Maina said that the problem at hand had been ailing the parish for quite a long time with the senior church officials giving it a deaf ear. He claimed that Moderator Rt. Rev Julius Guantai Mwamba has failed to act on the matter even after presenting their petition on his desk.

“We have tried presenting our case to the head office in Nairobi but they seem not interested in our pleas. Currently, those elders who are deemed to be sympathetic with our pleas, have been fired, an act that has led to scores other to tender their resignation,” he said.

The standoff between the youth and armed police who were guarding the church gate to deny the youth access to the premises

The youth praised Pastor Kiugo for rejuvenating the church ministry by even going out of his way to people’s homes to get them attend church and participate in a number of religious activities.

“All we want to know the circumstances that led to Evans Kiugo leaving this parish. For the past three years, I was not attending church service due to what I witnessed with the elders. I only resumed going to church when Kiugo came and started his door to door campaign to bring people back to the house of God. I am not alone for so many of those who are out here are a product of his campaign,” said Mungai Thiong’o a parishioner from the PCEA Maganjo Church.

Esther Waituika said that even if it might not be possible to have the pastor re-deployed back to the parish, it was prudent that there existed some changes in the way church affairs were executed.

“Our parish leadership has been riddled with too much corruption and misappropriation of funds. They never listen to any dissenting voices but instead get rid of anyone who go or talk ill of their wayward behaviour,” said Esther.

Efforts to get the elders’ response were in vain as they said they were not allowed to talk to the press.