No temple curtain tore in two and the earth was not filled with darkness when he left the stage. Deputy Jesus, as artistes infamously referred to him, was, after all, just human.
Like the biblical figure he hoped to copy, Ezekiel Mutua tried to make the world a holy place. And given how noisily he worked that job, one would have thought he had power over nature. It turns out he was only good at causing online storms every time he offered his unsolicited opinion on matters that never concerned him.
In the end, he had power over nothing - not even the direction his career would take. But the signs were always there. The former CEO of the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) was not fishing for friends but exploring new ways of making enemies.
So successful he was that he might be a top contender for Kenya's most disliked person, given the outpouring of loathing when news of his exit broke out. Those on Facebook detested him. Kenyans on Twitter disliked him more.
Over the past few days, Kenyans of all creeds have gathered on social media, united not by love but by dislike of a person whose only crime was to rid the society of immorality.
But not everyone was glad to see 'deputy Jesus' on the cross. According to the moral cop his friends were "sad" to see him go.
“Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement. I can't pick all the calls or respond to all the messages, but I deeply appreciate your prayers and goodwill,” Mutua tweeted when he finally emerged from denial that he would no longer have to provide for Tahidi High’s Omosh.
Reports indicate that his "friends" had their last supper to celebrate Mutua’s times as KFCB boss. They did not invite him.
Some overly sarcastic Kenyans responded with false claims that they would miss him, while all the while wondering why the Government had taken so long to show the moral cop the door.
If you ask Mutua why he annoyed many people, he would say that was part of his job. And that it included picking fights with those he deemed to lack morals and who threatened to spoil children.
But 'deputy Jesus' picked fights with everyone, and comedian Eric Omondi was his pet subject. Omondi’s clowning ways constantly plucked his nerves. He wondered why everyone else, besides himself, loved Omondi.
And he was right to wonder – after all, he was the one giving artistes all the opportunities by presenting insurmountable licensing hurdles their way. The bigger the challenge, the greater the reward?
The countless photos he shared on social media of himself in the company of joyful artistes were meant to prove just how good he had been to them.
And, in perhaps the last gasp move at saving his skin, he hurled Bible verses on his Twitter handle. Had he read the Good book well, he would know that all he needed to utter were "forgive them, for they know not what they do".
