Police officers closed controversial Melkio Joseph Mission Messiah church in Rongo, Migori County following a series of alarming events and public outcry regarding an unknown number of deaths and illegal burials associated within its compound.
A team of security officers led by Rongo Sub-County Deputy County Commissioner George Matundura raided the church on the night of Monday, April 21, 2025.
The police rescued 57 indisposed people who have been seeking healing at the church and stopped prayer activities.
Matundura said the National Police Service (NPS) will take other necessary legal action against the Church.
“We came after receiving that there are sick and injured people in this Church,” he said.
He said the police commences investigations after two people died at the church while seeking healing in the past one week.
A family from Nyamira county stormed the Church on Sunday evening claiming the body of their kin.
The family said the deceased burial was planned to take place within the premises of the controversial Melchior St. Joseph’s Missions of Messiah church.
The family, accompanied by police officers, stormed the church, rescuing 57 members, including the body of the deceased.
“The brother was dead, and he was laid in a certain room. When we actually pleaded with them so that we can take the body to the morgue, they refused saying it’s against their norm,” the deceased brother said.
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Church Members Oppose Police
However, the church members, including the deceased elder’s daughter, Jacita Achieng, who resides in the church, insisted that they were honouring the deceased’s will.
Achieng said his late father in his will indicated that he should be buried in church.
“Yesterday morning he called me and told me to protect his body from the outsiders. Don’t let my brothers come and take out my body outside this compound,” the daughter said.
“You were here when we asked them if they wanted to go to the hospital. They said their faith is strong, and even God knows that death is simply the path to heaven,” added another relative.
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Rooms withing the Church
Inside the church premises, investigators found unusual shrines and congested living quarters, raising further questions about the nature of the religious group and the well-being of its followers.
The rescued worshippers were taken to police custody after refusing to undergo medical evaluation.
“That church has several people, and it has several rooms, and it has several premises. We found our brother in a premise, lonely there. So, I don’t know whether it was their morgue,” the deceased brother added.
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