{"id":20139,"date":"2021-01-02T21:12:32","date_gmt":"2021-01-02T21:12:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/kenya\/?p=20139"},"modified":"2021-01-02T21:12:32","modified_gmt":"2021-01-02T21:12:32","slug":"church-probes-sexual-harassment-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/church-probes-sexual-harassment-claims","title":{"rendered":"Church probes sexual harassment claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), Mombasa Diocese, has formed a task-force to probe scandals that have rocked one of its churches in Bamburi, sparking chaos during the New Year services.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, ACK Mombasa Diocese Bishop Alphonse Baya said the church\u2019s vicar general and Archdeacon were probing alleged sexual harassment of female congregants at St Stephen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect the team to complete its investigation and hand in the report by next week,\u201d said Bishop Baya, who promised to personally address the issues, but \u201cin a just and fair manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday chaos erupted at St Stephen church, situated along Bamburi-Mtamboni road after the congregation refused to enter the church and instead held prayers at the entrance.<\/p>\n

The worshipers alleged sexual harassment of female congregants, female staff and deaconesses in the church. They held a demonstration outside the church.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe church is supposed to be the safest place for our girls, but we are surprised that this is not. We must get rid of predators,\u201d said the church elder and Warden Stephen Ochieng\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince January, controversies and confusion over leadership have rocked the church, almost tearing it apart. We now appeal to our Archbishop to intervene,\u201d said Ochieng.<\/p>\n

Mr Maxwell Odhiambo, who is a youth leader, said priests of the church were behind the differences among the congregants, which have forced some to migrate to other church denominations.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOther church members have decided to abscond church liturgies,\u201d said Odhiambo.<\/p>\n

Yesterday Bishop Baya said he will be given a fair hearing adding \u201cour first action is to try to bring the warring groups together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other allegations are that a leader scolds a member of the congregation in front of the church because of failing to meet the church tithe target.<\/p>\n

Harriet Savulenze, a woman church leader, condemned sex assault incidents among young girls and women congregants, saying this had made the church too insecure for them to worship.<\/p>\n

\u201cClaims of sex assaults in the church have reached an alarming level. We cannot allow our girls to be alone in the church, it is not safe,\u201d said Ms Savulenze.<\/p>\n

Baya said the church had procedures for addressing grievances, starting from the committee of the affected church before it is escalated to the diocese.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a report on all the allegations but we must give the accused party fair hearing. The committee will give me feedback and resolutions next week,\u201d said Baya.<\/p>\n

The cleric said after the church council meeting, he would forward the grievances and findings to a higher authority within the religious institution for proper action.<\/p>\n

The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), Mombasa Diocese, has formed a task-force to probe scandals that have rocked one of its churches in Bamburi, sparking chaos during the New Year\u00a0services.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, ACK Mombasa Diocese Bishop Alphonse Baya said the church\u2019s vicar general and Archdeacon were probing alleged sexual harassment of female congregants at St Stephen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect the team to complete its investigation and hand in the report by next week,\u201d said Bishop Baya, who promised to personally address the issues, but \u201cin a just and fair manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday chaos erupted at St Stephen church, situated along Bamburi-Mtamboni road after the congregation refused to enter the church and instead held prayers at the entrance.<\/p>\n

The worshipers alleged sexual harassment of female congregants, female staff and deaconesses in the church. They held a demonstration outside the church.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe church is supposed to be the safest place for our girls, but we are surprised that this is not. We must get rid of predators,\u201d said the church elder and Warden Stephen Ochieng\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince January, controversies and confusion over leadership have rocked the church, almost tearing it apart. We now appeal to our Archbishop to intervene,\u201d said Ochieng.<\/p>\n

Mr Maxwell Odhiambo, who is a youth leader, said priests of the church were behind the differences among the congregants, which have forced some to migrate to other church denominations.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther church members have decided to abscond church liturgies,\u201d said Odhiambo.<\/p>\n

Yesterday Bishop Baya said he will be given a fair hearing adding \u201cour first action is to try to bring the warring groups together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other allegations are that a leader scolds a member of the congregation in front of the church because of failing to meet the church tithe target.<\/p>\n

Harriet Savulenze, a woman church leader, condemned sex assault incidents among young girls and women congregants, saying this had made the church too insecure for them to worship.<\/p>\n

\u201cClaims of sex assaults in the church have reached an alarming level. We cannot allow our girls to be alone in the church, it is not safe,\u201d said Ms Savulenze.<\/p>\n

Baya said the church had procedures for addressing grievances, starting from the committee of the affected church before it is escalated to the diocese.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a report on all the allegations but we must give the accused party fair hearing. The committee will give me feedback and resolutions next week,\u201d said Baya.<\/p>\n

The cleric said after the church council meeting, he would forward the grievances and findings to a higher authority within the religious institution for proper action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya: The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), Mombasa Diocese, has formed a task-force to probe scandals that have rocked one of its churches in Bamburi, sparking chaos during the New Year services. Yesterday, ACK Mombasa Diocese Bishop Alphonse Baya said the church\u2019s vicar general and Archdeacon were probing alleged sexual harassment of female congregants at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":20128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8],"tags":[6312,7068,7067],"class_list":["post-20139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","tag-anglican-church-of-kenya","tag-bamburi","tag-sex-scandals"],"yoast_head":"\nChurch probes sexual harassment claims - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), Mombasa Diocese, has formed a task-force to probe scandals that have rocked one of its churches\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/church-probes-sexual-harassment-claims\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Church probes sexual harassment claims\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), Mombasa Diocese, has formed a task-force to probe scandals that have rocked one of its churches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/church-probes-sexual-harassment-claims\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-02T21:12:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2021\/01\/church_probes_sexual5ff0a02e45787.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/church-probes-sexual-harassment-claims#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/church-probes-sexual-harassment-claims\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Church probes sexual harassment claims\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-02T21:12:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/church-probes-sexual-harassment-claims\"},\"wordCount\":876,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/church-probes-sexual-harassment-claims#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2021\/01\/church_probes_sexual5ff0a02e45787.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Anglican Church of Kenya\",\"Bamburi\",\"Sex scandals\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/church-probes-sexual-harassment-claims#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/church-probes-sexual-harassment-claims\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/church-probes-sexual-harassment-claims\",\"name\":\"Church probes sexual harassment claims - 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