Kilifi-based pastor Ezekiel Odero has suffered a setback after the Court of Appeal declined to suspend a decision that paved the way for the deregistration of his church New Life Prayer Centre (NPCC).
Odero moved to the appellate court seeking to suspend High Court Judge Jairus Ngaah's decision in which he was challenging the Registrar of Societies move to cancel the church's operating license.
He sought to have this decision suspended pending a hearing and determination of an intended appeal.
But Court of Appeal Judges Daniel Musinga, Kathurima M'inoti and Mwaniki Gachoka dismissed the application saying Odero and other church officials had not exhausted other dispute resolution mechanisms provided by the law before resorting to the courts.
According to the court records, NPCC defaulted in filing its annual returns on April 13, 2023, which necessitated the case before the court.
The registrar of Societies told the court that NPCC did not comply and on May 18, they notified the church in writing that its registration had been cancelled.
The judges said NPCC was required to first appeal to the Cabinet Secretary and if it was still aggrieved by the decision of the CS, lodge a second appeal to the High Court.
But the church proceeded to move to the court where Justice Ngaah threw out the application for failure to utilise the prescribed mechanisms.
At the same time, Ngaah indicated that although Section 9 of the Fair Administrative Action Act allows the High Court to exempt a party from exhausting dispute resolution mechanism, Odero's church did not apply for exemption nor did it provide any exceptional circumstances for the same to be considered.
The appellate judges agreed with Ngaah saying "A party must first invoke the dispute resolution mechanisms before moving to the high Court".
They subsequently dismissed Odero's application.
