A Seventh Day Adventist pastor accused of having an affair with an elder's wife has been directed to file responses in a case he has been sued within five days.
The elder has sued the pastor and other church officials for allegedly not acting against the man of the cloth. He wants the court to stop the church from paying the pastor's salary.
Justice James Makau on Tuesday said the accused should respond to the petition five days from Thursday.
The case will be mentioned December 14 to confirm compliance.
The elder also seeks to stop his prosecution for alleged false accusation of the pastor. He claims the pastor had a three-year affair with his wife.
He says he is being victimised for speaking out on the adultery and fears being arrested as the man of the cloth has allegedly complained to the DCI.
The elder has sued Pastors Samuel Makori, Paul Mwangi, Jeremy Marambi and the East Kenya Union Conference Central Kenya conference and the DCI.
Lawyer Danstan Omari says the elder wants the court to stop the leadership of the Central Kenya Conference from paying the pastor's salary until the matter is heard and determined.
“That in the interim and pending hearing and determination of this application, this Honorable Court be and is hereby asked to issue a conservatory order restraining the CKC from remunerating the pastor,” the petition reads.
Omari has asked the court to suspend CKC's decision to overturn the local church's removal of the pastor from the church register for committing adultery.
Court documents show that the executive committee of the CKC exonerated the pastor in what allegedly left the entire SDA perturbed.
“Ironically, in complete disregard to the general discipline of the SDA church manual, the committee in its findings found the elder’s wife culpable for adultery but exonerated their own pastor in a bewildering manner as it takes two to tangle,” Omari says.
In affidavit sworn by petitioner, the wife wrote to the conference admitting having committed adultery and therefore not objecting to her name being dropped from the SDA church register.
However, the CKC executive committee ruled that the evidence was not strong enough.
The husband says the committee ignored all the evidence he brought, including audio clips and M-Pesa statements showing the pastor sent money to his wife.
It also suspended Pastor Robinson Njuguna of Holly Hill SDA for taking action against the sued pastor.
“The suspension is a witch hunt because of exposing the ills that are being perpetrated by the respondents in blatant disregard of the SDA church manual as well as the collective dignity of the Holly Hill SDA Church,” the court document say.
