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A church service at the California Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church in Nakuru West devolved into a violent altercation Saturday, leaving several congregants injured amid accusations of financial impropriety and leadership misconduct.
The clash is the latest incident to plague the church, following the fatal stabbing of an elder earlier this year. The immediate trigger for the brawl was a public accusation leveled against the pastor by a church elder. The elder alleged the pastor had sought their arrest by appealing to local authorities, specifically the area chief, accusing church members of attempted murder.
''We have said that we understand the procedure of all this. Why do you want to take us in circles? Even we understand how these things operate. You cannot force us to pray without solving all these, the church has procedures,'' the elder stated.
This accusation, delivered from the main dais, ignited a physical confrontation between the elder and the pastor, quickly drawing in other members of the congregation. Witnesses describe a chaotic scene with chairs being broken and congregants, including women and children, fleeing the incomplete church building in panic.
''Why don't you ask us where the problem is, yesterday you took us to the chief and you know that the order here doesn't give room for that, yet you wanted us arrested?'' he questioned.
The incident is symptomatic of deeper divisions within the California SDA Church. For weeks, simmering tensions have been escalating, with some congregants demanding greater accountability and transparency from the pastor regarding church finances.
This recent eruption of violence follows a previous incident in which a senior church leader allegedly fatally stabbed 35-year-old Francis Opiyo during an altercation. The suspect in that case surrendered to local authorities.