Chaos Erupt as Worshippers Storm Church and Stop Service Over Corruption

Drama unfolded at the Citadel Salvation Army Church in Machakos County on Sunday as worshippers stormed the service, disrupting what was meant to be a solemn Sunday worship, accusing the church leadership of corruption and embezzlement of funds.

The congregation voiced frustration over what they termed as only having empty coffers despite collecting over Ksh400,000 monthly to aid church development initiatives. 

The congregation, led by Sergeant Stephen Maskika, expressed frustration over what they described as a deep-rooted system of financial mismanagement. 

They alleged that church elders routinely withdrew all funds from the church’s bank accounts without any trace or accountability.

”When they go to the bank, they withdraw all the money collected in a given month, and whenever we leave any amounts there we are only later left with empty coffers,” an irritated Maskika stated.

In a video seen by Kenyans.co.ke, the church elders were left standing in silence, unable to intervene as the dramatic confrontation unfolded before them. They did not utter a word in response to the sudden turn of events.

The worshippers maintained that normal worship services would only resume if the church leadership made a full commitment to transparency and accountability.

The church members further accused the divisional leadership of attempting to shield the local church leaders by pressuring the congregation to align with decisions they did not support.

”The Divisional Commander who is the head of the whole Machakos region should also be cognizant of the roles he should be playing in his position and there is part that he should leave for the others,” one of the church members urged.

”There is no need for him to come to and dictate to us what should be happening in the church,” he added.

The incident closely mirrors a similar one that took place on January 26 at St. James Anglican Church of Kenya in Nairobi’s Buruburu Estate, where a widow and her children caused a commotion, demanding the arrest of a church leader accused of using their title deed to secure a hefty loan.

According to the family of Margaret Waititi Ndung’u, the church leader accused of grabbing land reportedly duped them into handing over their title deed to secure loans after deceiving them with false promises to help them clear off their initial loan.