Bishop Yego steps off pulpit after record 45-year service

African Inland Church (AIC) Kenya presiding bishop Silas Yego.

The Reverend Dr Silas Yego has just a few days to retire from the pulpit after his long service as the African Inland Church (AIC) Kenya presiding bishop.

For 18 years, Yego bestrode the premier institution like a colossus in a remarkable journey of many a feat. And now at 70 and after 45 years of serving the church, he says time has come to pass on the baton. His service ends with the year.

“I am being prevailed upon from many quotas to continue leading the church, I have decided that another person should take up the mantle,” said the prelate in an interview with Sunday Standard.

In his career in the church, Yego rubbed shoulders with high-profile Kenyans, including former President Daniel Moi, who the bishop says supported the church for years.

AIC, one of the largest and oldest churches in Kenya, was founded by Reverend Peter Scott in 1895. Yego says there will be no vacuum in his office when he leaves, because his deputy will act as his replacement is sought.

The cleric says his religious life took a new turn when he met President Moi. “In 1984, I presided over a wedding ceremony in Eldama Ravine that Mzee Moi also attended. My sermon happened to have touched the President though he never mentioned it until two years later during the graduation ceremony of AIC Kenya pastors at Pwani Bible College,” he recalls.

At the graduation where Moi was the chief guest, Bishop Yego was coincidentally leading the sermon again and the president took interest in his message. “After the ceremony, the president’s handlers came looking for me. I was shocked and I thought I must have said something that had offended him. I was taken to Mombasa State House where the president was waiting for me,” he says.

When they met, Moi told him he had been following closely his religious teachings and the messages had interested him.

“He said he was impressed with my preaching and encouraged me to soldier on as the message of God would bring prosperity and harmony in the country,” says Bishop Yego.

“After the Mombasa meeting, I would then frequent State House where together with President Moi we would immerse ourselves in Bible teachings, meditate on the word and songs before concluding in prayers. This is a tradition we have maintained until now as I still visit him at his Kabarak home.”

He says the former President’s generous contribution has aided growth of the church in Kenya. “As I retire from my leadership post, I pride in growing the church nationally and internationally. When I took over as the presiding bishop in 2001, we had only 3,800 churches in Kenya but the numbers have soared to over 9,000 at the moment,” he says. He says AIC Kenya is now more united than before although there were tumultuous times when there was a threat of disunity in 2008.

“There were some individuals led by Rev David Mbuvi who wanted me out, claiming I was illegally ordained as the presiding bishop and the matter ended up in court, but eventually it was dismissed. The journey has been challenging but the grace of God has been sufficient,” he says.

High Court judge Chacha Mwita in 2018 dismissed the case filed by Rev Mbuvi, who had been excommunicated from the church. Mbuvi claimed to be the general overseer of the church.

Justice Mwita ruled that Yego and two others have been recognised and registered by the Registrar of Societies.

Bishop Yego was born in Lelmokwo, Nandi County, on January 1, 1950 before he relocated to his Naisambu farm, Trans Nzoia County years later. He says AIC Kenya has grown beyond the borders of the country.

“We named it AIC Kenya after we opened other churches in the neighbouring countries of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Ethiopia and South Sudan. Diversity has brought strength and unity,” he says.

The cleric says during his tenure he initiated projects that earn up to Sh3 million per month for th church.