On Sunday an African Independent Pentecostal Church of Africa (AIPCA) church in Nyandarua had its followers aligned to two bishops clash over which group should worship in the church and police had to be called in to intervene.
However, this was just one of the many instances that the AIPCA church has encountered such confrontations.
The church which has its strong roots in Mt Kenya region has always been rocked in conflicts and efforts even by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his predecessor Mwai Kibaki to intervene and help resolve the matter have not achieved much.
So, why is this church that has been in existence for over five decades always in fights?
1. Succession: The church witnessed its ever biggest threat of split during the succession battle of its first spiritual leader Benjamin Kahihia.
Eventually, the late Samson Mwangi Gaitho succeeded Kahihia but not without his rival the late John Mugecha who was eyeing the same position breaking away with a sizeable following to establish a splinter church known as AIPCK.
2. Property: The church has witnessed several ugly confrontations with its rival AIPCK over various properties like church buildings and land where both groups claim ownership. The main faction claims it is the rightful owner of all the properties it owned before the split.
3. Its roots: The church which played an active role in the liberation struggle where it was associated with the Mau Mau fighters was built on a chaotic foundation and even its late archbishop Evans Ndung'u once admitted during an interview with the Standard.
"But after independence, we reformed our struggle traits and started the core business of winning souls for Christ," Ndung'u told the Standard in 2011 prior to his death.
4. Weak constitution: Many of the previous battles have been attributed to the church's weak constitution which set two centres of power at its helm of leadership. The archbishop and the powerful national chairman have had to clash severally on key decisions before the constitution was recently reviewed.
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