Freedom of worship enshrined in the Kenyan constitution has led to the mushrooming of numerous churches in the country with citizens and other residents spoilt for choice.
Over time, the question of which is the true church in the 21st century has remained debatable as each religion defends itself against deception claims.
One of the churches that have been accused of manipulation and false miracles is Prophet David Owuor’s Repentance and Holiness Ministry.
The church has for many years been criticized by a section of Kenyans for allegedly brainwashing its members.
The self-declared prophet, however, continues to deny the claims.
On Friday, a Twitter user identified as Kinoti Joseph took to his timeline escalating the debate after he claimed that Prophet Owuor’s church is a cult that manipulates people including students into what can best be described as “slavery” as many, he said, have dropped out to fully participate in the church’s activities.
Kinoti, who hails from Meru, claims he joined the church in 2008, immediately after joining Moi University having excelled in his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams in 2006.
He says he was introduced to the church by his roommate only identified as Cheruiyot.
“Cheruiyot would always invite me to join them for their Tuesday and Friday fellowships at WST 5. This I avoided for quite some time, ” he wrote.
“At WST 5, I met these radical believers, Prophet Owuor’s followers. Everything with them was about one thing – an imminent Apocalypse. They were busy ‘preparing’ for it.”
His commitment saw him appointed one of the leaders in the church. He could miss lessons to attend fellowship which sometimes included listening to Owuor’s preachings on radio.
“Missing lessons was not an issue for me. And I was not alone in this. We would spend weekdays ‘Preaching’ about Owuor in the nearby market Centers like Kesses, Kambi Nairobi, Sogomo and Kimumu in Eldoret, ” the former Owuor follower narrates.
He quit his education while in the third year to concentrate fully in the ministry. He would later be promoted “to Overseer, and served as the ‘Prophet’s Twitter Army Prefect.”
The new position brought him closer to Prophet Owuor as they interacted more when he submitted Twitter reports.
This is when Joseph says he got to know the mess he had gotten himself into.
“I discovered that the whole system was based on fake miracles, fake signs, and a false prophet Owuor. Everything was fake! I felt deceived. Something I had sacrificed everything for. It was now apparent that it was a scam!” Joseph added.
Read Also: Nyakach MP Aduma Owuor Arrested Over Sh68 Million Scandal
Some of the people they had preached to through blogs started to vanish after realising the miracles Owuor and his followers talked about were non-existent.
“We created blogs to push Prophet Owuor’s miracles. I ensured they were translated to as many languages as possible. We later had to delete them and do away with the blogs. Reason? Details emerged that the miracles only existed online, ” he tweeted.
Joseph quit after 10 years at the church, but he had lost his position at Moi University.
“I finally wrote an Email citing all these issues in the Prophet’s ministry and left. I lost my place at Moi University, having been out of school for more than 8 years without any official deferral, ” he added.
He says Owuor’s manipulative character is one that let him and many others stay in the church for such a long time.
Read Also: MPs Babu Owino And Esther Passaris Join âProphetâ Owuorâs Cult
According to Joseph, any member who attempted to defy Prophet Owuor’s directives was threatened with curses such as cancer and other deadly diseases.
“How would someone endure Prophet Owuor’s lunacy for a decade? Well, cult leaders exercise control over their members. Prophet Owuor does this by instilling fear, threatening with cancers and loss of life if you leave the group. Add this to the daily indoctrination, ” Joseph wrote.
“Prophet Owuor is not to be denied or contradicted, else you are cursed with cancers and lose your place in heaven. Only later did I realize that Prophet Owuor is not as sinless as he claims. He has a dirty past, something he guards with flaming swords.”
Some of the “false” miracles that Joseph claims they performed at the curch include “resurrecting” Mama Rose in 2017. The woman from West Pokot passed on in 2019 and according to Joseph secretly buried.
“On Tuesday, 22nd January 2019, Mama Rosa passed on. The next day, her body was quietly transferred to Cherangany Nursing Home kilometres away from Eldoret. She was secretly buried.”
He accuses Prophet Owuor of exploiting this woman’s misery to advance his selfish interests.
https://twitter.com/KinotiJoseph/status/1228265667712954368?s=20
Another incident is the “healing” of a blind school girl identified as Cynthia Wanjiku in 2016. It later emerged that Cynthia, who had just completed her primary school studies, later joined Thika secondary school for the blind.
Read Also: Family Accuses Prophet Owuorâs Church Of âBrainwashingâ Sibling Into Giving Up Her Property
Joseph questions why the girl joined a school meant for the blind if she had been healed by the “prophet”.
“What in God’s beloved universe is Cynthia doing in a school for the blind, or visually impaired if she was totally healed? I’d have thought that such schools are put up to cater for the blind, ” he questioned.
https://twitter.com/KinotiJoseph/status/1228262949803958272?s=20
The tweep claims that the “beneficiaries” of the false miracles often disappear only for their details to emerge when they die.
https://twitter.com/KinotiJoseph/status/1228238993558360066?s=20
“Like many religious cults, Prophet Owuor thrives on non-verifiable belief systems, mainly based on fallacies that he visits God in heaven where he receives ârevelationsâ about how mighty he is,” he adds.
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