Pastor Ezekiel of New Life Church suffered a major blow after law enforcement officers shut down his branch in Nyeri.
According to lead preacher Martin David Manyasi, police raided the church and allegedly ransacked and took away unidentified items.
Manyasi added that over 300 congregants who had turned up for service were locked out by the security officers.
The church was closed down two weeks after it was opened. It is not clear why the church was closed.
By the time of this publication, the police had not responded to accusations of closing down the church.
However, Pastor Ezekiel’s lawyer, Samson Nyaberi, accused the government of frustrating the expansion of New Life Church.
The lawyer further argued that there was an existing court order preventing the state from closing the New Life Church.
The lawyer also visited the Ruringu police station, where the OCS denied having seen the court order.
New Life Prayer Centre founder pastor Ezekiel Odero had moved to court seeking to overturn the decision to deregister his church.
Odero had moved to court challenging the deregistration of his church. Odero through his lawyer argued the move by the Registrar of Societies restricts his congregation’s right to practice their religion.
According to the televangelist, the move to deregister his ministry is a scheme to frustrate and obstruct the operations of the Church he leads.
In an application filed at Milimani Law Courts, Odero noted that he learnt of the deregistration by the registrar’s office through the media, 8 days after the lapse of the 21-day notice.
However, on August 22, Odero received a High Court directive suspending the deregistration of his church.
