Ruto Praises Uhuru for Uniting AIPCA Church
Ruto Praises Uhuru for Uniting AIPCA Church
Ruto Praises Uhuru for Uniting AIPCA Church
On Sunday, President William Ruto showered former President Uhuru Kenyatta with appreciation for his efforts to bring the African Independent Pentecostal Church of Africa (AIPCA) leaders who were embroiled in leadership disputes together. Speaking on Sunday at the Church’s Centenary Celebrations in Kasarani, the president observed that Uhuru was able to bring the leaders together, a task he was unable to accomplish on his own.
The president said, “You all understand and we all know that in the past we had wrangles, but through God’s grace today we stand here as a united Church. We are here to celebrate the unity of the AIPCA Church.”
The president went on to say that after the religious group reached him while he was the Deputy President, he asked Uhuru for assistance in helping them settle a disagreement.
“Samson Muthuri was our friend, Julius Njoroge and Frederick Wang’ombe were also our friends leading to us possibly fueling the conflict. When any of them invited us, we honoured their invites,” stated the President.
The President claimed that these friendships created a problem in resolving the dispute and compelled him to approach the former Head of State, who was able to intervene and bring the church together.
Former Maumau combatants and Africans who saw the Catholic Church to be colonial made up the majority of the church that seceded from the Roman Catholic Church a century ago. Even after Archbishop Julius Njoroge Gitau was elected, the church’s leadership disputes worsened in 2017 when Archbishop Fredrick Wang’ombe was appointed by departing Bishop Amos Kabuthu.
As a result, Julius Njoroge Gitau quit the church to found AIPCK, a faction that was in charge of more than 200 churches.But after seventeen years of wrangling, the church leadership decided to organize an election, with the understanding that all leaders would have to accept the result and put an end to the conflict.
