Pastor Ezekiel Odero of Newlife Church has appealed against a decision by the Registrar of Societies to deregister his church.
Through lawyer Dunstan Omari, the man of the cloth argued that the registrar did not notify him of the deregistration.
The court heard that the move was in bad faith as he had a conference scheduled for Saturday.
The conference dubbed ‘Meza ya Bwana’ is set to run for two weeks with over 100,000 attendees.
“By law that appeal served as a stay for the next 90 days before the Attorney General makes a decision,” said Omari.
Read: Pastor Ezekiel’s Newlife Church Among Five Deregistered by Gov’t
The lawyer told the media that the church will remain open by virtue of the filing of the appeal.
Further, he noted, Ezekiel has been trying to access the registration file in a bid to file returns but with no success.
“Numerous letters have been written to the Registrar but it has proven to be a difficult task to get the file,” he continued.
The Registrar of Societies has canceled the registration of Newlife Prayer Centre and five other churches, in a move to crackdown on religious institutions.
Other churches deregistered include Helicopter of Christ Church, Theophilus Church, Kings Outreach Church, and Goodnews International Ministries.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 12 (1) of the Societies Act, the Registrar of Societies cancels the registration of the societies specified in the first column of the Schedule, with effect from the respective dates specified in the third column of the Schedule,” Registrar of Societies Maria Nyariki said.
Read Also: Pastor Ezekiel Odero Arrested, Church Closed Over Kilifi Cult Links
Helicopter of Christ Church is led by Thomas Wahome who was recently accused of grabbing Nairobi Dam land.
Kings Outreach Church was previously part of Prophet David Owuor’s Repentance and holiness ministry.
Goodnews International Ministries is owned by Shakahola cult leader Pastor Paul Mackenzie while Theophilus Church is run by Bishop John Githiri and Rev Rachael wa Kuria.
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