A seventh Day Adventist pastor who was recently interdicted by the Nyamira Conference’s management should be reinstated without any condition, elders from Mokomoni have demanded.
Speaking on Thursday during the planning of the expected kick-off of the annual camp, they challenged the disciplinary committee to give Pastor Pius Bogonko a fair hearing since they concluded defilement case even without thorough scrutiny.
According to them, the allegations of defiling of a 16-year-old child were instigated by his critics and the conference failed to call for witnesses before reaching the conclusion.
“We want our pastor back because he did nothing wrong. It is quite dishonest to convict someone without gathering evidence. We know that the case was well planned and executed and this is a clear violation of someone’s rights and it should not go unchallenged,” said elder Francis Nyabara of Rirumi church.
They gave the disciplinary committee an ultimatum of two weeks to solve the issue before they used undisclosed means to seek justice for the embattled pastor.
“They have up to two weeks to settle the hearts of people. They must give him a fair hearing and that is what we want. His rights must be respected and we will accept nothing less than that,” he added.
Pastor Bogonko is accused of defiling a minor at his official residence in the district headquarters, allegations that he vehemently denied till his dismissal in June after just one week into the accusations.