Nairobi pastor denies stealing Sh23.5 million from church

Daniel Bushebi Munalo, a senior pastor with Word Of Life Centre, denied before Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Dolphina Alego that he stole the money wired from church sponsors based in Canada.

Pastor Munalo, in his 40s, allegedly stole the money between November 1, 2019 and August 9, 2021.

The magistrate heard that Munalo, who is an agent of Word of Life Church, stole the money which had been entrusted to him to run the operations of the church.

The court heard that part of the money was also supposed to buy a parcel of land.

The pastor was also charged with presenting a fake document at Eco Bank where the church holds an account.

It is alleged that on August 6, 2021, at the Eco Bank Plaza 2000 in Nairobi, he knowingly and fraudulently uttered a letter for change of account mandate for the church’s bank account.

Pastor Munalo allegedly presented the fake letter to the branch manager.

Another charge stated that on March 1, 2019, at Eco Bank West Minister Branch within Nairobi, he presented another fake letter for change of account operators’ names to the branch manager.

He was further charged with presenting another fake letter for change of name for the account operators of the church account at West Minister branch.

Munalo denied the charges and applied to be released on bond through his lawyer Kavutha Muthama.

In her application, Muthama claimed that the pastor is being persecuted for unknown reasons,.

“Your honour, the accused person before you is a senior pastor with the Word of Life Church and is being persecuted for unknown reasons,” she told the magistrate.

The lawyer further disclosed that the church has seven pastors and Munalo is the senior most pastor who oversees its operations.

Muthama also divulged that the church account has five signatories with Munalo being one of them and wondered why the other co-signatories were not on the dock.

The lawyer said that “just like Saint Paul the pastor is being persecuted for pursuing the truth.”

She applied that Munalo be released on lenient bond terms, saying he is not a flight risk and cannot run away from the flock he serves.

The prosecution did not oppose the bond application but asked the magistrate to consider the gravity of the matter.

In her ruling, Alego directed the pastor be released on a cash bail of Ksh 2 million with alternative bond of Ksh 10 million.

The matter will be mentioned on March 27 for pre-trial and directions.

She directed the Prosecution to supply witness statements and exhibits to the defence.