A criminal case brought by the Presbyterian Church of East Africa against one of its top clerics was terminated last week, ending a five-year-long battle that has had its share of controversies. 

On October 17, 2017, five people were charged before a Kiambu Court with stealing Sh39.9 million from the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA).

Among those in the dock were David Gathanju, who served as the Moderator of the PCEA General Assembly between 2009 and 2015.

Mr Gathanju was charged alongside Esther Wanjiru, Peter Mwangi, Stephen Muhoro, and James Muiruri, all former employees of the church.

The charge sheet stated that on diverse dates between January 2, 2016, and June 30, 2017, at the PCEA headquarters in Nairobi's South C estate, the five conspired to steal from the church.

In the second count, they were accused of stealing Sh39.9 million, which came into their possession by virtue of their employment.

They denied the charges and were released on a Sh1 million bond each.

Read: PCEA leaders want Sh40m case settled out of court

Before they took the plea, the defence team tried to no avail to prevail upon the prosecution to defer the matter to allow for dialogue with the church.

The defence argued that the church had mechanisms for dealing with such matters.

"Solid evidence"

Lydia Maari, who was the prosecution's counsel in the case at the time, stood her ground, saying there was solid evidence to secure a conviction against the individuals.

However, barely three months later, in January 2018, the prosecution withdrew the case against Ms Wanjiru and Mr Muhoro, saying there was no documentation to support the charges.

The charges against the remaining three would in March 2019 be enhanced, and they were now charged with stealing Sh50.9 million.

The case has been characterised by numerous adjournments, mentions, and hearing dates.

In October 2020, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) filed an application seeking to withdraw the theft case against Mr Gathanju and his co-accused, saying the complainant in the case, Rev Peter Kania, had since died.

However, then Kiambu Senior Principal Magistrate Stella Atambo dismissed the application, saying the prosecution had failed to convince the court to allow the plea.

Read: PCEA squabbles unlikely to go away any time soon

The magistrate said the death of the complainant, who was also a witness in the case, was not reasonable grounds to withdraw the suit.

Dissatisfied with her ruling, the State moved to the High Court in Kiambu, seeking a revision of the judgment issued by Ms Atambo.

However, Kiambu High Court Judge Mary Kasango in May this year declined to set aside the ruling by the lower court and agreed with the accused that the case should continue.

When the case came up for hearing on September 3, the prosecution counsel, Sammy Muriuki, told the court that the DPP had received communication from the church to have the matter withdrawn.

The church’s lawyer, Grace Gichuhi, told the court that the church wished the matter to be closed “in totality”.

Kiambu Senior Principal Magistrate Kibet Sambu acquitted the accused under Section 202 of the Criminal Procedure Code, marking the end of a case lodged in court five years ago.

The case has had 31 mentions and 31 hearing dates. The case was successfully heard on only four occasions, culminating in only one witness testifying.

Only the church accountant, Jane Mwihaki, testified in the case. Other witnesses lined up included Alfred Kanga and Amon Nderi, the former Deputy Secretary General and former Honorary Treasurer of the church’s General Assembly respectively.

Lydia Muthoni, the manager of Sweet Lake Resort in Naivasha, and Maina Kenya, the church’s auditor, were also on the witness list.

The case was also not without drama. During a heated debate in one of the court sessions, details emerged that the complainant had authorised the transfer of funds which was the bone of contention in the case.

A statement by the then Equity Bank Nairobi West Branch manager, Chebet Rotich, tabled in court indicated that before effecting any transfers from one account to another, the manager would call Mr Kania to confirm whether the church management had sectioned such transactions.

Ms Chebet added that in Mr Kania’s absence, she would call Amon Nderi, the treasurer, to confirm the transactions.

She added that she would call the duo using the bank’s landline number, which is also used to verify the signatories on the transfer of funds.

In her statement, Ms Chebet recalled that in June 2017, Mr Kania informed her that he had learned that the money normally collected by Mr Mwangi, who was a signatory to some of the accounts, was being stolen.

She said Mr Kania told her that he had tried to reach Mr Mwangi to no avail. He asked to see an application form for funds transfer to tracing where the money was being transferred to. 

Mandatory signatory

In her statement, the manager said she asked Mr Kania about the calls she usually made to him as a mandatory signatory to the PAYE (pay as you earn tax) account since he had stated that he sometimes signed the application forms for funds transfer in a hurry.

“Rev Kania agreed the calls were made to him and that he should be given time to sort things out,” she said.

She said that usually, after confirming that everything was in order, she would authorise the transfer and then leave the teller to effect the transaction.

A civil suit against Mr Gathanju, Mr Mwangi, and Mr Muiruri that the church had lodged in the Milimani law courts was also recently dismissed.

The trio was sued in April 2019 for allegedly failing to pay Sh9.6 million, which they owed the church.

The Registered Trustees of the PCEA had sued the three for failing to pay back the money despite admitting that they owed the church.

Milimani Commercial Court Principal Magistrate S.A. Opande, in his ruling dated September 22, 2022, said he had dismissed the case for want of prosecution.

Mr Gathanju told the Nation that he is happy that justice had prevailed.

“I have been waiting for justice to prevail. My conscience has always been very clear that I have never stolen. The case brought me a lot of psychological torture and ruined my reputation. It also consumed a lot of resources,” he said.

The cleric said he is consulting with his lawyers to decide on the next move. By Kamau Maichuhie, Daily Nation