There is disquiet amongst members of the Repentance and Holiness Ministry which is led by Dr David Owuor after he allegedly abandoned his followers and went missing since the Coronavirus pandemic hit the country.
Members of the church and Dr Owuor’s close associates told K24 Digital that despite the self-proclaimed prophet bragging of how he had foreseen the pandemic hit the world, he has been hiding in his Runda home and only sending memos to his followers.
The members said that Dr Owuor who is easily identified by his trademark dreadlocked beard has been very observative for the fear of contacting Coronavirus which has so far claimed more than 3.87 million people globally.
But Owuor who is also known for his flowing monochrome suits and dreadlocked beard is a man of contradictions; The “mightiest of prophets” whose might is acknowledged by his battalion of followers.
“Even the number of people who visit his home has drastically reduced. What is currently happening is that he is conducting online services from his house in the company of three individuals who include a British guy,” an insider told this reporter.
A statement was also released on Jesus is Lord Radio which limited scheduled meetings at Owuor’s residence in Runda.
On his YouTube Channel, Dr Owuor has been conducting three services on a weekly basis where he has been talking about how he had foreseen the Coronavirus pandemic.
K24 Digital opted to go through his YouTube channel and got the video where the prophet claims to have prophesied that a pandemic will hit Asia.
However, in a video which the Prophet alleges to have prophesied the pandemic has an edited caption which was seemingly changed to show that the prophet has foreseen that the pandemic will start in Asia instead of India as it was initially reading.
In the video, captioned- Prophecy of a severe distress of disease coming to Asia- Prophet Dr Owuor-he says that the Lord had taken him to India and that most people were suffering and a lot of people were being rushed to the hospital.
The caption initially read “Prophecy of a severe distress of disease coming to India- Prophet Dr Owuor.
“I see lack of equipment and doctors running up and down. The Lord took me to India and the hospital is very busy. One of the doctors even told me that they also don’t have equipment and the disease will emerge in Asia,” he says and goes ahead to quote the Bible in the book of Daniel 12.
According to him, the disease is a distress that is consuming the world before the world comes to an end.
In this investigation which took us a week, K24 Digital established that most of Dr Owuor’s churches remain closed and they are accumulating debts since the pandemic started.
A good example of one of the churches is the Utawala branch which is located opposite former Taj Mall in Embakassi.
The ways of operations by Dr Owuor’s church can now be revealed and the most basic one is that all members operate and receive directives from WhatsApp groups.
Our source said that every branch of his churches has a WhatsApp group where members discuss about the progress of their welfare and also receive directives on what to do.
In a memo seen by this reporter, an announcement was made by Joan Mutai a senior Bishop in the church in relation to a meeting which was to take place on March 13- 14, 2020 and those who showed symptoms of Covid were asked not to attend.
“In light of the new developments of the first Coronavirus cases now reported in Kenya, anyone amongst the invited guests of the Lord (The Senior Bishops or other Guests) to the Nairobi Meeting on 13-14 March 2020 who is sneezing or coughing or generally unwell are asked to not attend the meeting,” the Memo read in full.
K24 Digital has established that the meeting was to be attended by a total of 200 bishops of the church but some failed to turn up.
Days later after the memo about the meeting was sent to the bishops, Dr Owuor further reduced the number of the attendees from 200 to 14 only.
In the communication, the Prophet argued that they had been asked to reduce the number by the National Government.
In another communication over the pandemic which now leaves some of his followers questioning his ability to cure the virus, one of his trustees DAB Major General George Kyaka asked members of the church who were attending the service within Nairobi to ensure that they wear facemasks.
“Due to Coronavirus breakout in Nairobi, All Saints are requested to buy mouth-nose masks for their own use in Church tomorrow. There will be compulsory Sanitization of hands at the entrance of the alters. No shaking of hands, or hanging at all. All must follow the Ministry of Health guidelines as already issued. Kindly, circulate this information to all,” the memo read in part.
The memo was further followed by another one which asked members of the church to stop physical attendance of service due to the spread of the virus.
“At times I wonder if he foresaw the pandemic and he said people should repent which we have been doing why do the churches remain closed surely?” a member of the church posed.
The member further said that the memo asked them to gather in groups of people not exceeding ten and follow Dr Owuor who will be preaching through his YouTube account.
“They told us that we can gather in small groups not exceeding 10 people and follow from our houses as the service will be streamed live, this is what we have been doing until I decided not to be attending,” said the source.
In addition to that, the memo asked members of the church to also purchase gloves and be wearing them whenever they leave their homes.
It is worth noting that even before the Government shut churches and asked people not to gather in large numbers, Dr Owuor had long time shut his churches.
He pulled a similar move a month ago when he asked members of his church in Nyanza to stop attending church physically- weeks later the Government shut down churches in the region.
K24 Digital has established that during a meeting that took place at the church’s headquarters in Nairobi, Bishop John Litunda who Dr Owuor claims to have resurrected from death was ordered to operate in gloves and stayed there for seven months.
A source privy to the matter said that Dr Owuor feared that by Litunda leaving, he might end up contacting the virus yet he was a key player in the meetings.
In a series of videos on his YouTube channel where he is captured preaching, all the people who are within his Runda residence are asked to wear gloves and facemasks.
In another memo seen by this reporter, it has emerged that ever since the pandemic reached Kenya, they have never held a fasting session which is common with the church.
When majority of the members kept requesting to have a period in which they can be fasting, a communication was made asking them not to fast as that will compromise their Immune system.
“Many people have been writing to the mightiest prophets requesting for fasting but the advisory have it that because of the Coronavirus and that you don’t have to compromise your immune system that is why the Mightiest Prophets have not announced fasting. But you can enter into repentance,” the memo reads in part.
The memo further asked members of the church that whenever they buy fruits or tomatoes, soak them in a basin of water with salt then transfer them to a basin of soap and because soap can be poisonous transfer them to a clean water basin.
It further asked members of the public to always wash soap and water with a lot of water and that they ensure that they wash their hands with plenty of water.
Other directives include; members should not make unnecessary movements, ensure you have masks while going to a public place like supermarket, banks, keep a distance while interacting with people, take care of your personal hygiene, avoid inviting people to come and meet in your places unnecessarily.
On June 3, 2020- they issued a follow-up memo on disinfecting everything including money using sanitisers.
Members in the memo were asked to disinfect everything that they buy from the shops before they take them into their house including parcels.
“Ensure to disinfect cash money; the virus can stay on paper and metal for a very long period of time. Whenever going to the market/supermarket or crowded places, ensure to wear an overall coat, which you should remove once leaving that place. Separate it (for example in a paper bag) in order to avoid entering your house with it. Then wash it separately,” the memo read.
The memo also asked members of the church never to leave the house without masks and gloves and that they should wash their hands as often as possible even if you wore gloves.
In a communication early this year to the members of the church, Mercy Kosgey who worships at Kabete branch and works as a nurse in one of the city-based hospitals had tested negative for Covid-19 yet her colleagues tested positive.
In relation to this Kosgey said that she did not test positive because she was protected by Dr Owuor.
This is related to another memo which communicated to the members where it was claimed that it is Prophet Owuor who caused Covid-19.
“The dreaded prophet of the Lord God Jehovah who struck the earth with the Coronavirus. He struck the nations of Haiti, Chile, Mexico, Nepal, the Andes, Taiwani with the massive severe historic earthquakes that totally devastated those Nations when they refused to repent. Kenya has been judged for sexual immorality, and rightly so. We cannot withstand a single hit,” read the memo.
Ikev Ivooke a member of the public who has in the recent past questioned the ways of operation of Dr Owuor told K24 Digital that in as much as there was freedom of worship in Kenya- people should be very careful on who they interact with on matters Christianity.
