Drama ensued on Sunday, September 6, after members said to have been expelled from the Church of God interrupted a service over a tussle involving a Ksh1 billion property.
A section of members from the church is opposed to the move of hiring a private firm to develop a land parcel valued at Ksh1 billion situated in South B, Nairobi.
The move came barely a month after the death of charismatic Archbishop Byrum Makokha who battled multiple illnesses including blood pressure and tuberculosis.
The church leadership plans to put up a business centre in the two-acre land parcel at the Mariakani Christian Center.
Police from Industrial Area watched the drama unfold as a section of members opposed to the move confronted church leadership.
Caleb Munyaka, a pastor at the church, claims that the contentious parcel of land was not acquired by the church but was a donation from the government.
"We are here to refuse the dictatorship, we are here to say no to the selling of this church, this land was not bought, it was donated by the government and now cartels have come in," he noted.
Some members took the church trustees to court back in 2018 over the contentious two-acre piece of land.
Most of the members opposing the move were excommunicated in April after disagreements with church leadership as they claim the development will only benefit a few people.
One Joy Andambi stated that their names were ommitted from the list of congregants allowed into the church to worship on Sunday.
"We have been banned from attending services because we want the plan to sell our church and convert it into a business centre stopped.
"Police have been brought here to stop us. We are told that our names are not on the list of those approved to worship here," she noted.
The members claim that the title deed shows that the land has been listed for social use.
The expelled members also claim that the leaders once sold church land on Dennis Pritt in Milimani to a private developer without consulting members.
The chairman of the Properties Development Company of the church William Shimanyula stated that the project is within their plans.
"This church was founded in 1905 and it's a property of the Church of God. It is the fifth-largest in Kenya with a following of about two million worshippers.
"The development of this plot is right within our strategic plans and like every other church we want to develop with other partners," he explained.
