KENYA: Self styled deity - Jehovah almighty god Wanyonyi and followers face eviction from village because of claims of fraud and embezzlement

Record ID: 362633

  • Title: KENYA: Self styled deity - Jehovah almighty god Wanyonyi and followers face eviction from village because of claims of fraud and embezzlement
  • Date: 1st July 2001
  • Summary: (L!1)RUGAZI, UGANDA (FILE - MARCH 28, 2000) (REUTERS) SLV WORKERS PULLING BODIES FROM HOUSE OF FATHER DOMENIC KATARIBABO OF THE MOVEMENT FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, (3.57) WIDE OF ONLOOKERS WATCHING COVERING THEIR FACES (3.58) SLV MAN PULLING BODY FROM HOUSE (4.02) BACK VIEW OF CROWD WATCHING (4.05)
  • Embargoed: 16th July 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CHUELE DISTRICT, KENYA / RUGAZI, UGANDA
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Religion,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA6FVPYOKCROL982KUZVXB5F1D7
  • Story Text: A man living in western Kenya called Jehovah Almighty God Wanyonyi, who believes he is God, faces eviction from the five acre camp he lives in with his 500 followers because of the consequences of his self-proclaimation.
    To his 25 wives, 70 children and around 400 other followers, he's God, but to many in western Kenya, Jehovah Almighty God Wanyonyi is, at best, a con-man and at worst, Satan himself.
    Wanyonyi is one of dozens of self-proclaimed deities throughout Africa, who have persuaded their followers to hand over all their money and property in return for false promises of security and heaven on Earth.
    The district officer David Rotich has written a report on Wanyonyi after masquerading as a potential supporter.
    Rotich says Wanyonyi, like others throughout Africa, derives his power from the shift in attitudes during and after the struggle against colonialism.
    "And, whatever he was proclaiming, was that the white man has moved out of the country. You ought to have a God who is also black," says Rotich.
    "Because popular belief is that, regardless of perhaps, God is white. That was the assumption before independence."
    The government is keeping an eye on Wanyonyi. The Kenyan constitution guarantees freedom of worship, but local officials have serious concerns about Wanyonyi's unwillingness to send the children to hospital or school. The crowded site suffered an outbreak of typhoid four years ago.
    Wanyonyi and his followers live on a five acre camp off a dusty road near Mount Elgon. On the Sabbath (a Saturday) and other special days, his followers gather to worship him.
    Wanyoni claims to be the father of Jesus, as well as some 70 children of the camp. He claims his followers are the lost Israelites of Kenya, direct descendants of the biblical Jacob.
    He claims to be 80 years old in his earthly incarnation, but he lacks money.
    He and his followers demanded a sum of 160 U.S. dollars from a Reuters correspondent for an interview, a sum Reuters refused to pay. He tells visitors he wants the money for a stone house and a four-wheel drive car.
    Local churches tell a different story from Wanyonyi. They say he has conned his followers out of their land and their money.
    "What he did is he made the people to sell their property, then they all came to camp at his place thinking he's God,"
    says Dixon Masika of the Forgiveness Church.
    "And he said he will provide everything to them."
    "Unfortunately, he has subjected his people to himself and, by so doing, has been using them as instruments of his enrichment. In a way that they have been going out to work, then they are to give everything to himself. Then he gives them some little percentage to the upkeep."
    Wanyonyi claims supporters give him money of their own free will, but former followers like Patrick Wafula Busolo say that's not the case. A victim of polio as a young boy, Busolo discovered Wanyonyi was not an all-loving God.
    "He said that disabled they are not allowed to enter the sanctuary. Now I was attending the meetings from outside the window. Then, that made me not happy. Then, I said there is no need now of looking for God if God does not want disabled.
    Then, I discovered the truth: that Jesus loves every person,"
    says Bufolo.
    Wanyonyi also inspires fear. His enemies say he uses charms and witchcraft. He has an uncanny ability to predict the weather and even claims he has been wrestling with the white man when he hears news of airliners crashing.
    Local people say he has commanded his followers to use violence. Gabriel Simiuyu displays the scars from an attack which left him unconscious two years ago. He claims the perpetrators were followers of Wanyonyi. Simiuyu, the son of the man who gifted Wanyonyi the land, now wants it back and next month (August) will go to court to have Wanyonyi evicted.
    With the threat of eviction from Heaven arises the prospect of a mass suicide. Some one thousand followers of Joseph Kibwetere over the border in Uganda killed themselves last year. Wanyonyi has claimed the world will end in 1995, 2000 and, most recently, 2002. Busolo says, if he can persuade his followers to commit acts of violence, he can also persuade them to commit suicide.
    "If he can give a command like committing suicide they can do," says Bufolo.
    "Because they believe him. They believe he's God. And what God says must be done."
    The government, however, believes Wanyonyi's powers are waning. The squalor of the camp and the lack of hope has led to the desertion of hundreds of followers.
    For his part, Wanyonyi says if he leaves heaven his miracles will end. In the meantime he is asking guests to pass on letters addressed to the British Queen, Elizabeth II and the Pope instructing them to gather together world leaders and prepare for the end of their rule on Earth.
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