From Jesus to John the Baptist: 'Prophets' of the Mulembe nation

Yesu Wa Tongaren (centre) with his wife, Nabii Benjamin, at a police station when he was accused of engaging in cultism, claiming to be Jesus Christ. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

Mr Wekesa, who hails from Lukhokwe village in Tongaren Constituency, Bungoma County, alleges that God visited him in a dream and told him he was the messiah the people had been waiting for to save humankind. "God came to me and gave me the name Jesus, and so I am not to be referred by the names my parents gave to me," Mr Wekesa Told The Standard in an interview.

Unlike Jesus, who remained a Nazarite (never married), 'Yesu wa Tongaren' has a wife with seven children whom he refers to as angels.

He owns the 'New Jerusalem Church' and has 12 disciples. His wife, who is among the disciples, is referred to as Nabii (Prophet) Benjamin. "My task is to preach to people to repent their sins and go before God in submission so that their names are written in the Book of Life," he explained.

Unlike other Christians who celebrate Easter in April, Yesu wa Tongaren and his followers do so in July of every year.

He has since released a new bible dubbed 'The Third Testament' that will outline how his crucifixion and death will be handled come July.

He has banned his followers from attending funerals. They should also not touch dead bodies, and those who disobey him risk getting expelled from his church.

Elective seats

In Nandolia village in Kanduyi Constituency, one Nabii Yohana (V), 82, claims to be the reincarnated John the Baptist. Nabii has 46 wives with 289 children, with the youngest of his wives being 24 years old.

He claims to have powers to heal an array of ailments, including HIV/Aids, cancer and witchcraft, and to help politicians win elective seats. His neighbours claim he can heal even mad men.

Jehovah Wanyonyi. He considered Mount Elgon, located near his home, to be the biblical Mount Zion. [File, Standard]

From his base at Chemororoch village, Uasin Gishu County, he found time from his 'heavenly' duties to preside over 70 wives, most of whom were aged between 14 and 18 years. Jehovah Wanyonyi claimed he could cure various diseases, such as Aids, cancer and hypertension. Wanyonyi one day demanded Sh3 billion from the Kenyan government, lest he punished the country with HIV/Aids.

He considered Mount Elgon, located near his home, to be the biblical Mount Zion. "I came in a human form to redeem my people, the lost Israelites," he told his followers in his fiery sermons.

When he died in 2015, aged 98, his followers were told to fast and await his resurrection after three days.

They are still waiting by the time we went to press. However, members of the clergy drawn from various churches in Bungoma have distanced themselves from these self-proclaimed gods and prophets.

The religious leaders claimed that all three were just confused and lacked an understanding of the Bible. "We are all followers of Christ, and there is no one who can be human and at the same time be Jesus. All these people must be ignored," said Calistus Barasa, interfaith chairman of Bungoma County.

And who can ever forget Mary Sinaida Akatsa, the prophetess from Ebusiralo village, Luanda constituency in Vihiga County? Her father was called jogoo (Cockrel) by his peers because he loved moving up and down Luanda town with women of all kinds.

The prophetess made headlines on June 11, 1988, when she claimed she was going to bring Jesus Christ to her church in Nairobi's Kawangware area. Akatsa, who is the founder of the Jerusalem Church of Christ, prophesied that the Messiah would drop by her church.

On a fateful day, residents of Kawangware who had woken up to the unexpected return of the Messiah, thronged her church while repenting their sins, only for a tall, bearded, barefoot man dressed in white robes, his head covered in a turban, to emerge accompanied by the self-proclaimed prophetess.