Police on Sunday, March 22, stormed the Jesus Celebration Centre (JCC) church in Bamburi, Mombasa County and ordered the service to be halted immediately.
They also forced the church to close its doors, a move that did not go down well with the church faithful.
"We believe that God is more than science and he has the final say. Yes, we accept the existence of the coronavirus but if you go to church, they can pray for you and you'd be healed in an instance,
"Fear is the enemy and the devil is trying to use this fear to try and force us to abandon our worship session. We cannot accept this," Christine Kambua, a worshipper at the church stated.
The disgruntled members went on to reveal that more than 2,000 worshippers had thronged the church for normal services, despite the government directive banning all forms of congregations in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.
"We believe that there is nothing really that can touch the child of God. Even this pestilence and the disease can hear the name of Jesus," Eric Berur, a JCC member explained.
He went on to claim that they were not trying to complicate matters or get into a confrontation with the government, stating that they should just be allowed to pray for the nation.
According to police reports, the church situated in Bamburi had failed to adhere to personal hygiene and social distance directives.
In Embakasi, Nairobi, the situation was the same with police having a hard time trying to dispersing congregants in various churches.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, local activist, Eric Ambuche expressed his dismay at Kenyans intent on congregating in churches stating that they pose a serious threat to the nation providing a nucleus from which the virus could spread exponentially.
Ambuch is the founder of Slums Outreach Programme - a community-based oragnisation that offers civic education to slum dwellers, advised Christians to pray from home, at least until the virus was contained.
"God is omnipresent, the faithful should get this clearly, we do not want to experience what Italy is going through right now. We are calling the government to provide us with sanitisers, gloves, masks, water pails and even conduct some precise orientation on mitigation measures on Covid-19.
"With the scenes I witnessed today. It's very unfortunate, that people appear to be this ignorant," he stated.
On March 13, the government issued a total ban on congregating, adding that churches would only be allowed to carry on with their services if the various parameters to curb the spread of the deadly Coronavirus were met.
The Ministry of Health advised that individuals should maintain a distance of at least one meter between themselves and anyone else who is sneezing or coughing.
The government also advised people who are coughing and sneezing to stay at home or to keep a social distance and to avoid mixing with others in a crowd.
Watch the JCC parishioners talking to a journalist below:
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