It is a doctrinal truth among Seventh day Adventists (SDAs)
that the book of Revelation chapter 14 tells of important messages of
three angels to the world.
Commonly
referred to as the three angels’ messages in the church setting, the
messages ensure that everyone has had a chance to choose between the
Kingdom of God and that of Satan – the messages form the cornerstone of
the church’s foundation.
To its
credit, the Adventists have always presented the picture of the church
as Jesus Christ himself would have wanted it – a quiet community that
eschews controversy and busies itself in spreading the gospel.
So much so that in parts of the former South Nyanza - where it has a bedrock of support - the church is nicknamed ‘Adwen Wes gi Sura’
(The Adventists of chapter and verse. Since Dholuo alphabet does not
have the letter V, it is usually collapsed into a ‘W’). The chapter and
verse moniker is an admiration for the church as a stickler to the
scriptures.
However, it seems
that beneath the veneer of tranquility is a church sailing in choppy
waters, if murmurs coming out of the church are anything to go by.
OVERHAUL
At the heart of the disgruntlement are
accusations that those charged with steering the ship are not having
clean hands, as it were.
A
group of three members - who claim to speak on behalf of hundreds of
church members and leaders – are now calling for an overhaul of the
church leadership. The group lays a litany of charges against the church
leadership, ranging from nepotism to breaking the laws of the land as
well as looting of property and misuse of powers through the police.
The
group includes former university don Dr Charles Maranga Bagwassi,
former politician Geoffrey Asanyo and retired media executive Sammy
Masara who have written several petitions arguing that unless urgent
remedies are instituted, then the SDA church is on the path to
self-destruction.
Swirling
around are claims of ‘Church Capture,’ borrowed from the now infamous
‘State Capture’ allegations raised against South African President Jacob
Zuma.
“Right from October 2015
when the petitioners wrote to the General Conference up to this point,
the church leaders have not admitted that the church has problems which
need to be addressed.
Instead,
the leaders have allegedly used every opportunity to malign the
petitioners and thousands of supporters who are desirous of returning
“the church of God to its core mission of winning souls for the Kingdom
of Heaven,” Maranga said in an interview.
FIGHTING BACK
According
to the trio, the problem in the church has its roots in the Central
Kenya Conference (CKC) election at Karura (conference headquarters) in
2015 in which they claim most of the delegations complained of a
manipulated process.
However,
through a top official, Pastor Samuel Makori, the church is fighting
back accusing the trio of having a hidden agenda against the church.
“They
have been making these allegations year in year out and they have been
answered satisfactorily each time they do so. We have nothing to hide as
a church and this matter has even gone to the courts where they have
lost,” he says.
Early in 2012,
the church was reorganised into the Kenya Union Mission which further
split into East Kenya Union Conference (EKUC) and West Kenya Union
Conference (WKUC), and the two conducted their respective elections in
September 2015.
SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING
EKUC
had Samuel Makori as executive director, Alfred Marundu as executive
secretary and Nehemiah Maiyo as treasurer while WKUC had Mr Ken Maena as
executive director, Mr Japheth Ochorokothi as executive secretary and
Mr David Sande as treasurer.
Contention
arose when Mose Nyambega & Company Advocates representing Geoffrey
Asanyo, an elder in the church, reported to the Registrar of Societies
that some officials were planning to hold a special general meeting on
September 20 in Nairobi. Mr Asanyo sought to know whether the officials
were recognised by the law.
On November 17, the registrar declared that all current officials were in office illegally.
“We
have observed that the Seventh Day Adventist Church East Africa Union
does not have office bearers and is in contravention of its
constitution,” wrote the registrar.
When
the upset officials went to the Registrar’s office they discovered
several anomalies including delayed filing of annual returns;
uncertainty over the sharing of property worth billions of shillings
between EKUC and WKUC.
ELECTIONS
But
the group’s main grouse is that when elections were called for December
17 last year, most of those voting were not bona fide delegates but
people picked for their loyalty to the church hierarchy.
They
further claimed harassment was meted out against them by the police who
were allegedly acting under the orders of Central Kenya Conference
Executive Secretary Jeremy Marambii.
“Marambii
told the police that Masara was a criminal and the documents he was
carrying were seditious material. The police asked Marambii to provide a
vehicle to take Masara to Gigiri Police Station,” Maranga claims.
Pastor Makori denies this and states that the three gentlemen were not delegates and so they had no locus standi to attend the Karura meeting.
“The
meeting was only for bona fide delegates and since the three were not
delegates they were requested to leave, a request which the police
carried out,” he stated.
Also
annoying to the petitioners is what they call tribalism where members of
the Abagusii community are being sidelined in the church’s leadership.
“It
is a fact that SDA has its main support among the Abagusii and Luo of
Southern Nyanza. It is unimaginable that a community that has given so
much to the church can thus be sidelined,” said Maranga.
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