Anglican Bishop in money scandal

An Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Bishop is a man under siege. Police want to arrest Bishop David Kodia after linking him to a money-laundering syndicate also known as 'Wash Wash'.

Bishop Kodia is stationed in Bondo, Siaya County. He is Nyanza Region's chairperson of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK). He has been accused of printing and circulating fake money. But in an exclusive interview with The Nairobian, the man of God has denied any involvement in crime and is daring the police to produce evidence.

"That is not true, I think the officers lacked intelligence or they were just trying to cover up something else. We all love money, if I had such powers why would I be toiling like any other people," said Kodia.

As the Bishop visited Nairobi on missionary work, police combed his house perhaps in search of evidence.

"They told them (family) that I'm printing fake money and I have been dishing them out to demonstrators, mostly the boda boda riders," said Kodia.

The police officers, who drove into Kodia's rented house in Migosi, left after realizing that the Bishop was not around.

"They showed great disrespect to my family and me. They have given numerous contradicting reasons. But I have one Easter message for them: I forgive them and their senders," he told The Nairobian.

The reports linking the Bishop to wash-wash syndicate came hot on the heels of news that some local banks have been raising the alarm about activities of a section of churches that usually deposit huge sums of money.

There are concerns within banking and security circles that churches are quickly turning into conduits for money laundering. It is feared that crooked individuals are using some churches to 'clean' their ill-gotten money by depositing the cash in bank accounts belonging to some of the churches that are now on the radar of sleuths.

Hiding behind churches

To avoid raising eyebrows among security agents and bank officials, the crooks thought by hiding behind churches or preachers; they would be safe.

Sometime in 2019 while appearing on a live television show, Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka was tasked to shed light on the allegations of church and money laundering.

The Wiper leader revealed that some individuals have millions stuck in containers, thus the move to introduce new currencies was welcome to tame the bad habit that was creeping into places of worship. Unveiling of the new currency notes by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta was one of the strategies to fight money laundering, counterfeits, and corruption.

Central Bank (CBK) Governor Patrick Njoroge at the time expressed his fears over larger bank notes being used for unclean financial movements in Kenya and other countries in the region. Not long ago, Azimio leader Raila Odinga accused some religious leaders of allowing their churches to be used for money laundering.

He said huge amounts of money being donated to some churches need to be investigated, saying it could be part of a money laundering racket.

"Some church leaders are true to their calling, others are not. We need to ask the source of the millions of money being taken to churches," said Raila.

In the past, some preachers have landed in trouble after being nabbed with millions acquired through unknown deals.

This was the case of a Ruiru preacher who was arrested in possession of fake Sh36.2 million currency.

Reportedly, the pastor was on his way from the house to work when he was caught off guard by officers from the Special Crime Prevention Unit (SCPU) who stormed the area acting on a tip-off. His wife was also taken into custody, but as a witness, to assist detectives in carrying out their investigations.