Popular televangelist Pastor Ezekiel Odero was interrogated by Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) officers in Kilifi on Tuesday regarding his sermons and church activities.
Sources say, on Tuesday, April 25, Pastor Ezekiel recorded a statement with Kilifi DCI regarding claims of the indoctrination of the faithful at his Mavueni-based church.
“Pastor Ezekiel Odero of New Life Prayer Centre and Church today recorded a statement with police over allegations of indoctrination of the faithful.” According to a source from the Ministry of Interior who spoke to Kenyans.co.ke.
Police also questioned the managers of the Milele Funeral Home in Mavueni, Kilifi County, a morgue close to Pastor Ezekiel’s church, regarding crucial matters pertaining to alleged cultic practices at the Coast.
The funeral home recently complained that Ezekiel had greatly interfered with their business.
In a past televised service, the preacher faulted the owners of Milele Funeral Burial and Benevolent Services in the Mbogolo area near Kilifi town for setting up a morgue adjacent to a blackspot, purposefully to profit from deaths arising from accidents along the Mombasa-Malindi Road.
On Wednesday, the funeral home’s CEO clarified that they had not filed any official complaint with the police.
He, however, said he was only helping the police with the investigations.
“We did not file a complaint. The police are in the process of recording statements on how many bodies we have handled so far from Pastor Ezekiel’s church.
“We have given our statements to the police with respect to that, as required by law. We have not lodged a complaint against Pastor Ezekiel. Police are just doing their investigations, period,” the funeral home’s CEO, Amani Kea, told the publication.
Kithure Kindiki, the interior cabinet secretary, stated on Tuesday, April 25, that police were investigating flamboyant preachers whose doctrine deviates from what the law allows.
“We have opened an inquiry into another preacher who is headquartered here in Kilifi, and we are finding significant information that will soon enable us to draw logical conclusions.”
“Any faith that kills people or engages in criminal activities in the name of religion must be stopped, and this is the time to stop these charlatans,” Kindiki said.
Investigations into the life and teachings of Pastor Ezekiel Odero come at a time when Kenyans have been puzzled by the Shakahola Massacre, which has so far resulted in the exhumation of over 90 bodies and the rescue of over 30 people who were starving themselves to death.
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Paul Mackenzie, a controversial pastor, has so far been arrested in connection with the deaths.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji recommended charging him with terrorism, genocide, radicalisation, and encouraging people to kill themselves.
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