A Malindi televangelist and his wife were yesterday charged with four counts of promoting radicalisation in their church.
The Malindi court also set free 19 followers of Good News International Ministries Church after investigating officers declared them innocent.
The 19 had been arrested alongside Pastor Paul Mackenzie and his wife Joyce Mwikamba.
Mackenzie and his wife appeared before Malindi chief magistrate Julie Aseko.
They denied the charges.
Mackenzie and his followers have been in remand for 15 days as police sought time to complete investigations.
In the first count, the couple was charged with knowingly and unlawfully promoting an extreme belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologies to advance religious and social change on September 29 in Malindi subcounty.
Mackenzie was also charged with offering basic education in an unregistered institution on September 29 at the same church.
The couple is also charged with failing to jointly take their children to school as required by law.
They are accused of failing to provide their three children aged 13, five, four years their right to education between August 28 and September 29 in Furunzi.
Alice Mathangani, from the Director of Public Prosecutions, asked the court not to grant the accused persons bail, saying the matter is of public interest and if released they would interfere with investigations.
The pastor’s lawyer, James Mouko, opposed the application by the prosecution to deny the accused persons bail, saying it would be against their constitutional rights.
Mouko also said the wife of Mackenzie has a six-month-old baby, who has been denied the right of being with the mother for 23 days since the day of arrest.
The mention of the case was set for today to give a ruling on the bail application.
The couple has been remanded at the Malindi police station.
