Senators’ visit to Ezekiel’s church throws Shakahola probe to a spin

The probe on the Shakahola massacre has taken a new twist after it emerged that some members of the Senate Ad hoc committee visited pastor Ezekiel Odero’s church in Kilifi county.

Yesterday, People Daily established that members of the Ad hoc committee chaired by Tana River lawmaker Danson Mungatana landed in Kilifi without a single member of the secretariat, sparking questions about the motive and the financier of the visit.

In parliamentary practice, a properly constituted parliamentary committee consists of the chair, vice chair, members and the secretariat who role is to provide technical assistance to the committee.

In addition, the secretariat comprises of Clerks, Researchers, Legal officers, Hansard staff, Sergeant-At-Arms and at least a Media Relation Officer (MRO).

“The people who visited Pastor Ezekiel’s church in Kilifi were members of the committee but not the committee. Those were members alone. They decided to visit the place on their own and on their own expenses. In the absence of a committee clerk and other staff, then it ceases being a committee visit,” said a source who sought anonymity.

The visit by the Senators comes barely days after the pastor offered to provide transport for the lawmakers to his multi-million church premises in Mavueni, Kilifi County.

Out on bail

“I would love the committee to pay a visit and see what we do. I pray from the bottom of my heart that the chair of this committee convinces his members to come. I will not have a problem to pay for you to come and see what we do,” said Odero.

Odero is currently out on bail after he was arrested and detained for seven days in the wake of investigations against him, had told the committee that any suspicion about church activities would be laid bare if the senators visited and saw for themselves.

This is after Pastor Ezekiel appeared last Friday before the Danson Mungatana-led committee to provide information as a witness in the Shakahola massacre investigations.

During the probe on Friday, the senators questioned pastor Ezekiel on his alleged links to controversial preacher Paul Makenzie, the lead suspect in the Shakahola deaths.

Court reports indicate that Odero who is currently out on bail, is being investigated for at least 14 offences that include; murder, aiding suicide, abduction, radicalisation, genocide, crimes against humanity, child cruelty, fraud and money laundering.

Asked if Pastor Odero financed the visit by the senators to his vast empire, the Ad hoc committee chair, Mungatana, passionately denied the accusations, adding that the members were facilitated by Parliament.

Public meeting

“Pastor Odero did not ferry us to Kilifi. This trip was funded by Parliament. How can you sponsor yourself for a public meeting? It’s not him,” Mungatana revealed.

He went on: “After our meeting with him, we took the advantage to meet with Kilifi district security committee but that meeting again was in camera.”

Mungatana’s denial also came after sources confided in People Daily that the committee had exhausted their budget and there was no way the funds could have come from Parliament.

People Daily has also established that the Senate Liaison Committee chaired by Deputy Speaker Kathure Murungi has also declined to allocate it more funds, a move that will now make the committee to compile its report at Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).

In addition, members of the committee contradicted their chairman on the financier of the visit, disclosing that they funded the trip from their own pockets.

“We used our money to go and verify serious claims. We had been told there is a graveyard in his compound. As a country, we could not have failed to verify such a claim. How stupid can we be to be financed by a witness?” posed Hamida Kibwana (nominated) who is a member of the committee.
Wakoli Wafula (Bungoma) in his response, disclosed they used their own money in visiting the multi-million preacher’s premises in Kilifi County on Monday.
“We are here to give a report and Kenyans must get the truth. We are not at the mercies of anyone. We are paid by the government and are paid for work done. We earn a salary and we can foot our own bills if we want to,” charged Wakoli.
This even as William Cheptumo (Baringo), a member of the committee, stated that he did not go for the trip.
“I really do not know who funded the Senators to Kilifi. You can ask those who went, because, I did not go myself for some reasons,” revealed Cheptumo.
However, some multiple sources disclosed that the Baringo legislator had raised concerns about the trip to a witness premises during the closed session of the committee in parliament yesterday before a press briefing.
Asked whether the preacher funded the trip, Pastor Odero’s lead lawyer Danstan Omari denied the allegations, saying that the lawmakers used parliamentary resources and not from the preacher.

“My client did not use his resources to ferry the Senators to his premises. They used parliamentary resources,” said Omari.

Efforts to reach Senate Speaker Amason Kingi to confirm if he approved the trip and accompanying budget were futile, as he did not respond to our text message.