Blow To Pastor Ezekiel As Court Rejects Bid To Stop Deregistration Of His Church

• Pastor Ezekiel Odero of Newlife Prayer Centre is now fighting to save his church after the court dismissed his application challenging its deregistration
• Odero claims that Justice Jairus Ngaah issued an unjust and unmerited ruling by not addressing the issues raised in the dispute
• Odero stated that unless the court intervenes, the rights of his members and their children to education and worship will be affected if his church is deregistered

Televangelist Ezekiel Odero is now fighting for the survival of his church after the Court of Appeal dismissed an application challenging the deregistration of his Newlife Prayer Centre.

In an appeal that he had been filed by his lawyer Danstan Omari, the Kilifi based-preacher wanted a judgement issued on April 19 stayed, after he lost a bid to stop the cancellation of his Church's registration.

What does Pastor Ezekiel Odero want the court to do?

Odero had told court that his church, which has over 40,000 members and affiliated institutions, risks being closed down by the Registrar of Societies following the verdict.

However, the court of appeal judges led by Justices Daniel Musinga, Kathurima Minoti, and M. Gachoka, agreed with Justice Jairus Ngaah that pastor Odero should have exhausted all mechanism to resolve the dispute before going to court.

"In light of the consistent decisions of this Court and the Supreme Court that a party must first invoke the dispute resolution mechanisms provided by the law before resorting to the High Court or courts or equal status, we are satisfied that the intended appeal is not arguable,” the court ruled.

The judge's noted that the the New life Prayer centre did not apply for exemption under the Fair Administrative Action Act, nor did it present before the High Court any exceptional circumstance to justify refusal to invoke the prescribed mechanism.

The judge's maintained that the appeal by the preacher was not arguable.

"Accordingly, this application is hereby dismissed with the order that each party bears its own costs. It is so ordered

Why govt revoked registration of Pastor Ezekiel Odero's church

In April 2023, the Registrar of Societies revoked the registration of the Newlife Prayer Centre and Church over allegations of money laundering and cult-related activities .

The Registrar wrote to Odero, telling him to show cause as to why his registration should not be cancelled for failing to file his annual returns.

The preacher, however claimed that efforts to file the returns had been futile as their file had been missing at the registrar's office.

Odero’s New Life Prayer Centre and Church is one of the six affected by the recent deregistration.

Others include Good News International Ministries that is owned by Pastor Paul Mackenzie who is currently in detention, Helicopter of Christ Church, led by Thomas Wahome, the Theophilus Church and Kings Outreach Church.

The Kings Outreach Church notably separated from the group of umbrella churches linked to Prophet David Owuor.

Registrar of Societies, Chairman, Maria Nyariki, explained the decision, stating, “In exercise of the powers conferred by section 12 (1) of the Societies Act, the Registrar of Societies cancels the registration of the societies specified in the first column of the Schedule, with effect from the respective dates specified in the third column of the Schedule.

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