The Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church in Nakuru has terminated the contracts of 19 pastors through a dramatic action that has created unrest within Kenya’s religious community.
The Central Rift Valley Conference (CRVC) announced this decision, which has caused internal conflict within one of the largest Christian denominations in Kenya.
The church leadership issued a circular on February 3, 2026, which declared that the 19 pastors lost their status as SDA ministers and employees and representatives who fall under CRVC authority.
The statement that acting Executive Secretary Olgar Kemuma signed explained that church doctrine violations and partnerships with an unauthorized organization had occurred. The so-called Mid Rift Valley Union of Churches Conference operates independently from the Adventist national authority, according to SDA officials.
The circular notifies all churches in our jurisdiction that these individuals lost their credentials and licenses, which take effect immediately. The pastors are prohibited from preaching and teaching and officiating church ceremonies and leading church activities and collecting tithes and opening bank accounts and representing the Church at SDA institutions in the area.
The expulsions have triggered fierce rebuttals from some of the pastors on the list. Pastor Daniel Kerochi explained to local media that the claims of his involvement with the splinter group were false because he and his colleagues follow SDA doctrine and answer to the SDA World Church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, in the United States.
“This claim that we have created another organization is simply not true,” Kerochi said, challenging the legitimacy of the CRVC’s action and underscoring ongoing fractures within the church’s local leadership.
The purge echoes previous fractures within the SDA community, including a major split in Nairobi that led to the formation of the Nairobi Cosmopolitan Conference (NCC), highlighting long-standing struggles over authority, governance, and doctrinal alignment.
Leave a Reply