Co̩urt of Appeal Rejects Pastor Ezekiel’s Church

The permanent bench of the Co̩urt of Appeal in Nairobi on Tuesday rejected to approve the license of embattled televangelist Pastor Ezekiel’s Newlife Prayer Center and Church, which is mainly based in Mavueni in Kilifi County.

Last year in May, the Registrar of Societies in the State Law Office of the Attorney General had banned the church over its alleged connection with the activities of his fellow self-proclaimed evangelical pastor-cüm-cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie through a decision by Justice Ngaah Jairus of the High Court.

Pastor Ezekiel, whose real name is Ezekiel Odero, then moved to the Co̩urt of Appeal, which handles appeals arising over the decisions of the High Court, seeking to overthrow the decision by Justice Ngaah.

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All that time, though, he has been leading his congregation at the Newlife Prayer Center and Church after getting court orders stopping the closure temporarily pending hearing of the matter;

But now, the matter has already been decided: A three-judge bench, led by the Co̩urt of Appeal President Justice Daniel Kiio Musinga, has ruled that the church remains deregistered after reviewing the factual findings made by the trial 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 judges said that Pastor Ezekiel, together with his lawyer Danstan Omari, had filed a notice of appeal without meeting all the substantive and procedural requirements needed for a civil case.

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