Kenya: Sect Members Tell Court They Won’t Wear Face Masks

Four adherents of the controversial Kabonokia religious sect yesterday stunned a in Tharaka Nithi court after vowing that they would not wear face masks since it’s against their religious doctrines.

Gerald Njagi, Bernard Nyaga, Kajuju Mutiria and a 14-year-old girl were charged with flouting Covid-19 regulations by failing to put on face masks while in public.

Before Senior Resident Magistrate Stephen Nyaga, the Marimanti court heard that on January 6, the four went to Kathanga Primary School in Maragwa, Tharaka North, without face masks and when asked to put them on, they declined, citing their religious beliefs.

The four admitted in the court that they had not put on face masks. The three adults were fined Sh20,000 each or in default serve a three-month jail term at Embu GK Prison, while the minor was sent to Meru juvenile remand home to be remanded for 15 days.

The court also ordered that the four undergo Covid-19 tests.

Members of Kabonokia religious sect have always found themselves in trouble, with some being imprisoned for failure to adhere to some government directives including taking their children to school, going to hospital and taking their newborns for immunization, saying that it is against their creed.

They say they believe in God as their healer and do not go to the hospital to seek treatment from human beings and have no business with earthly education.

During the recent census and Huduma Number registration, a number of the sect’s followers were jailed for declining to participate in the exercise, terming it “satanic”.

They also do not register for national identity cards nor do they engage in businesses, instead opting for traditional farming.

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