Pastor Ezekiel Odero of the New Life Centre Church can heave with relief after he obtained a court order suspending the deregistration of his church.
Pastor Ezekiel obtained the order after it had earlier been declined with stay orders remaining in place pending hearing and determination of the matter.
His legal team filed a new application on Monday, August 21, after withdrawing the earlier one which he had filed on August 20.
In the order the court was seeking to interrogate whether the process of deregistration was consistent with the law and whether it was legal and fair to Pastor Ezekiel.
Justice Jairus Ngaah who issued the order said the court would allow the applicants to challenge the gazette notice that announced the deregistration of the New Life Centre Church.
Also Read: Pastor Ezekiel’s Church Deregistered
Application ruling
“Upon perusal of material placed before the court in support of the application, I am persuaded to exercise my discretion and allow the applicants to challenge the gazette notice dated August 18, 2023, whose purport is to deregister the society referred to as New Life Prayer Center and Church,” said Justice Ngaah.
Franklin Kilonzo, Alice Nafula Wanyama and Pastor Ezekiel Odero filed the fresh application to quash the deregistration.
Kilonzo is the chairman, Nafula the treasurer and Odero the secretary of Newlife Prayer Center and Church.
In their application, they stated that the state did not serve them with any notice of deregistration despite the gazette notice.
Also in their argument, they cited unprocedural process in deregistration and the registrar had earlier failed to provide files to aid in filing of returns.
The court gave seven days to the respondents to file their responses to the application.
Justice Jairus Ngaah has set September 20,2023 as the date for the mentioning of the case.
In an earlier application that had been filed and the withdrawn, the televangelist was the only applicant suing the Attorney General.
Pastor Ezekiel Vs the State
Police arrested Pastor Ezekiel in April on allegations of conspiracy to commit crime and money laundering but was later released on bail.
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Earlier on Pastor Ezekiel’s Church had been barred from conducting crusades in some locations.
In his latest shocker, the state deregistered his church among four others in what they termed as a crackdown on rogue churches.
The other churches that the Registrar of Societies axed were The Helicopter of Christ Church, Theophilus Church, Kings Outreach Church and Goodnews International Ministries.
