Court declines to reinstate Pastor Ezekiel’s church licence

Popular preacher Pastor Ezekiel Odero has suffered a blow after the Court of Appeal declined to reinstate the license of his Kilifi-based New Life Prayer Centre and Church.

Last year, Odero’s church was among several closed after their licenses were cancelled for not being properly registered.

They however got orders stopping the closure temporarily pending a hearing of the case.

On Tuesday, the court said the televangelist failed to exhaust all mechanisms before approaching the court.

The three judges; Justices Daniel Musinga, Kathurima Minoti, and M. Gachoka, agreed with Justice Jairus Ngaah that pastor Ezekiel Odero should have approached the CS first before going to court.

"In light of the consistent decisions of this Court and the Supreme Court that a party must first invoke the dispute resolution mechanisms provided by the law before resorting to the High Court or courts or equal status, we are satisfied that the intended appeal is not arguable,” the court ruled.

Pastor Ezekiel moved to the Court of Appeal saying that he was aggrieved by the High Court’s decision to suspend his church licence, adding that the court erred in law.