Pastor Ezekiel Odero of Newlife Prayer Church Mavueni in Kilifi County lost Ksh500,000 after police withdrew his permit to hold a crusade in Machakos County on Saturday, June 3.
According to his lawyers, Cliff Ombeta, Dunstan Omari and Sam Nyaberi, the State withdrew the permit after realising their client was set to grace the event.
Initially, Pastor Pius Muiru of Maximum Miracle Center had secured the permit to hold the crusade in Machakos on Saturday, June 3 and Sunday, June 4.
The preacher had, by that time, spent Ksh500,000 to secure tents, chairs and other important items for the 2-day religious event. However, the last-minute revocation made them lose the money already pumped in.
"Pastor Muiru had invited Odero to the crusade as a chief guest and when the police realised that he will be there, they canceled the permit saying they thought it was a Muiru-only crusade.
"Our client has lost over half a million used to put up tents and other logistics," lawyer Ombeta stated.
Besides losing the money, the lawyers claimed that thousands of their believers had been left stranded following the revocation of the permit.
The lawyers accused the government of sabotaging the televangelist and thus crippling his religious activities.
Pastor Pius Muiru also castigated the government and security teams accusing them of harassing the man of God.
However, by the time of this publication, the law enforcement officers had not issued a comprehensive statement regarding the cancellation of the crusade.
The permit revocation came days after law enforcement officers seized handkerchiefs and holy water from the Mavueni-based pastor. The law enforcement officers sent them for government laboratories for tests.
Communication devices were also carted away from the church during a raid. The lawyers argued that the police officers were armed with search warrants before raiding the church in Mavueni.
The pastor was also battling the state over freezing his bank accounts, where he is accused of money laundering. He is also battling the Communication Authority of Kenya over the suspension of TV station.
