Ex-communicated former national chairman of the embattled African Independent Pentecostal Church of Africa (AIPCA) Paul Watoro Gichu is the mastermind of the flawed Archbishop’s elections, The Informer can authoritatively reveal.
Besides having lobbied for illegal use of 2102 electoral register to have Julius Njoroge Gitau elected as the successor of Archbishop Amos Kabuthu, Gichu is now planning to bribe ‘Bishops’ with Sh3million each to have Noroge’s enthronement ceremony slated for February 12, 2017 be conducted before then.
Gichu, the proprietor of tax evasive Edimor Steel Mills Lilited located at Kapa in Mlolongo along Mombasa Road is said to have unleashed a financial muscle to take control of the church with a keen eye on the 300 title deeds owned by the church.
Today, a meeting held at Blue Springs Hotel ended in disarray amid bribery claims to have the new Archbishop enthroned before the scheduled date.
Gichu who always attends church service under police guard without his family is said to be assisted by Bertha Nyambura who served as the national Chairlady in 2013and tendered her resignation in May 2014 and ex-communicated member Paul Watoro Gichu participated in the disputed elections.
Nyambura is the wife to former Archbishop the late Samson Mwangi Gaitho.
Names of dead officials and those who have already resigned were also captured in the election list without updated replacement of their successors.
“Gichi is bragging to have bribed everyone including deputy Registrar General by the Name Njeri and Bishops to have the illegal ceremony go through,” a source who attended the meeting revealed.
Thirty six bishops, chairmen and chairladies boycotted the controversial election including the outgoing Archbishop Amos Kabuthu.
It also emerged ex-communicated members took part in the election against the church constitution.
At the center of infighting is the control of multimillion property empire owned by the church and another 300 title deeds.
A petition sent to the Registrar General, Office of the Attorney General says a 2012 electoral register was used and three bishops who were not qualified to take part in the process were enlisted as candidates for the Archbishop post.
“The electoral register which was used was backdated to 2012meaning changes that have happened since then were never captured. For example, the National Treasurer the late Timothy Gitonga Gachoya replacement was not captured to reflect the current holder Mrs Ann wanjiru Kahura. Bishop Bairu who was the in charge Imenti North diocese was not replaced and chairlady of Embu also passed on and the register used did not reflect the current chairlady.” The petion dated January 10, 2017 reads in part.
Delegates from Nairobi Archdiocese, Gatanga Diocese, Maragua Diocese, Mukaro outh Diocese, Coast Diocese, Kirinyaga Diocese, Embu Diocese, and Eldoret Diocese were never represented in the elections.
Mwangi. The two are leading a splinter group in AIPCA that oversaw a
flawed election process of the rejected Archbishop Julius Njoroge.
The leaders claim some of the new leaders were rigged in and are now demanding a fresh election.
The petitioners said the church procedures, doctrines and laws were ignored and violated.
Normally, election on an Archbishop time-frame is 135 days with 90 days being for praying for peaceful process and primate and 90 days for preparation on the enthronement which is a national event with all members from the republic participates.
Gichu was ex-communicated from the church in 2014 for having participated in illegal and irregular ordinations in Nairobi and Mukaro Diocese against the church rules and doctrines.
“The central board has found you guilty of colluding with Bishop Julius Kamwaro as he illegally ordained clergy in Nairobi and Nyeri and thus it ex-communicated you,” an ex-communication notice against Gichu reference number Ref:CB/AIPCA/05/2014.
Gichu attends Bahati AIPCA church under police escort.
The notice was signed by the secretary general Stanley Mwangi and national chairman Samuel Kimani.
They are accused of collecting money from dioceses from year 2013 to 2016 in pretense of doing returns to the Registrar General office.
Mwangi is further accused of failing to issue a list of the bishops qualified to vie for Archbishop position to all dioceses.
In his retirement speech in January 22, 2017, Archbishop Kabuthu called upon President Uhuru Kenyatta and the office of the Registrar General broker a truce.
One of the compromise agreements is to merge and harmonise the 2012 and 2017 electoral register.
Kabuthu took over the church leadership in 2013 in a peaceful transition witnessed by former President Mwai Kibaki and President Kenyatta.
