By Andanje Wakhungu
Leadership struggles threaten to bring down the African church of the Holy Spirit, this is after a section of disgruntled congregants filed a complaint to the Lugala headquarters leadership calling for the removal of Senior Bishop Bathlomayo Lunani Dumbeni branch.
In what seems to be an in-house division among the church members over leadership qualities, a fraction from the Malava-based church which at one point hosted President William Ruto when he presented a vehicle to the then one of the High Priest during his campaigns in Western, is on the brink of a fallout as the current senior Pastor Lunani faces an eminent rejection from some members.
In a letter addressed to the Deputy county commissioner (DCC) Florence Omieno signed by the Lugala headquarters deputy general secretary John Alwiga Amugune copied to the high priest John Akhura Muhambi and all the Dumbeni branch bishops, dated 15th July 2024, addressing the conflict at Dumbeni church leadership as its main reference, it agrees that the church has received several accusations levelled against the Dumbeni branch senior Bishop leading to his subsequent expulsion and rubbishes then as un-procedural and malicious hence to be ignored and instead the two warring factions appear before the church panel for discussion and solving of the cases and further warned that it will not take lightly members who are rushing to the courts to spoil the good name of the church and yet there are organs put in place to sort out such differences.
At the same time in another letter dated 15th July 2024 addressed to all Padre Dumbeni centre acknowledging receipt of disgruntled members’ letter dated 13th July 2024 (not under our possession), the headquarters has reinstated the embattled Dumbeni Bishop after it alleges that the aggrieved parties did not follow the laid down protocol to suspend the senior officer of the church and that they should have known that it is the senior Bishop who consecrates the centre leaders, only the high priest is in position to convene a church council meeting as per their constitution to discuss the behaviour of a sitting Senior Bishop after which the outcome is handed over to the executive committee that will later form a task force look into the presented misconduct and follow the constitution to come up with a solution to the matter.
The high priest’s office has for that matter noted cases of indiscipline among the leaders of Dumbeni Centre and hence upheld the decision by the Dumbeni branch committee to suspend Padre of Dumbeni Centre Enock Chami for not adhering to the laid down protocol of the church and its constitution as a whole until he brings his complaints in an orderly and in line with the constitution and organs of the church terming his move to consider taking church matters to the government administrative units before the defendant is heard and his case determined by the church organs including the church council, executive committee and the annual general meeting.
His place has been replaced by Amos Molenje in an acting capacity after the resolution reached by the branch committee which sat at the branch. The church has further stopped the complainant from stopping any branch meetings and any other church event as he has no authority from the church constitution.
The head office has also given the suspended official a chance to apologize to the senior Bishop Lunani and act as a lesson to other church members who might have the same habit of rushing with such spiritual matters to court.
Lunani was accused of among others failing to issue new marriage certificate books to the members which the church had barred following its members’ delay in filing annual returns of the church to the registrar’s office.
