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Close all churches run by rogue pastors, Ahmednasir tells State

Says radical Imams have in the past been dealt with firmly and some mosques closed.

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by SHARON MWENDE

Kenya28 April 2023 - 20:32
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In Summary


  • Ahmednasir said the State has in the past dealt firmly with rogue Imams and even closed mosques.
  • He pointed out that some were killed and others jailed for threatening peace and as such, radical pastors pastors should not be spared.
Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi

Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi has urged the government to deal ruthlessly with rogue pastors and preachers and close down their churches. 

The Senior Counsel said the government should apply the same measure of force like it has previously done against Muslim clerics who were found to be advancing radical teachings and had some mosques shut to end the menace. 

"Historically, successive Kenyan governments have closed mosques run by radical Muslim Imams, jailed many and killed very many Imams in broad daylight," he said.

Ahmednasir said whereas extrajudicial elimination of rogue preachers is uncalled for, those found to be advancing radical teachings that risk the lives of their congregants should not be allowed to continue operating. 

"I'm not advocating for extrajudicial killings of evangelical pastors, but Kenya must close churches run by demented pastors," he said in a statement on Twitter.

He appeared to be reading from the same script as Interior CS Kithure Kindiki who warned that the government was not going to tolerate  anyone hiding behind religion to harm Kenyans.

"The government will not release its foot from the gas pedal...It doesn't matter who you know here in Kenya or even in the spiritual realm, we will come for you, heavy and hard," Kindiki said while addressing the press at Shakahola in Kilifi County. 

The government has in previous years ruthlessly cracked down on radical Muslim clerics who were thought to be influencing particularly the youth into terrorism. 

Although State agencies have never been indicated by courts for involvement, some of the clerics like Kisauni Imam Aboud Rogo was killed over alleged radicalisation of youth into terrorism.

Rogo was in 2012 killed in a drive-by shooting in Mombasa. Authorities suspected him of supporting al-Shabab operations in the country.

An inquest in 2015 revealed that the controversial Sheikh was shot by a lone gunman while driving his wife and children to Bomu Hospital.

In February 2012, Jamaican-born Muslim cleric Sheikh Bilal Philips was deported soon after he landed at the JKIA from Qatar. 

The Sheikh had been banned from preaching in most European countries over his teachings that were seen as a threat to security.

Police said they could not wait for him to start his teachings in Kenya and moved with speed and deported him upon his arrival from UK where he had done time.

In 2015, police also closed down four mosques in Mombasa for allegedly being linked to extremists. They were marked as crime scenes.

Ahmednasir's remarks come at a time the Communications Authority of Kenya suspended TV stations owned by Pastor Ezekiel Odero and Pastor Paul Mackenzie.

Ezekiel and Mackenzie are currently in police custody in relation to deaths at the Shakahola forest believed to have resulted from the indoctrination of their followers.

Mackenzie is suspected of having persuaded congregants at his Good News International Church to fast to death in order to go to heaven.

Detectives have so far dug out 108 bodies from shallow mass graves at the Shakahola Forest.

Kenya Red Cross said it has also recorded 410 missing persons at the tracing centre set up at the Malindi Subcounty Hospital, 227 among them being children under 18 years.   

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