For close to two decades, Mr Elly Odoyo cut links with his paternal family in Magwagwa in Nyamira County.
This is after he deserted home and relocated to Opapo village in Rongo, Migori County. There, Mr Odoyo began a new life in a church that is now under police investigations.
Mr Odoyo turned Malkio St Joseph Mission of Messiah in Africa Church his new home and later tagged along his four children. He left his wife behind at home.
His extended family, however, managed to take away one of his sons from the church and enrolled the young man in a technical training college.
Mr Odoyo’s brothers said he would call them at least twice every year. However, the calls were only made when he was seeking monetary help.
Mr Odoyo died on Monday, April 21, after sustaining an injury during a clash at the church.
His brother, Isaac Nyachieo, said Odoyo owned cattle and land which he cultivated to sustain his family.
"He would come home to collect farmers' bonuses and some profits from the cooperative society where he was a member and return to the church," Mr Nyachieo said.
The family of a GSU officer who died and was buried in a church compound seek help from the Office of the Deputy County Commissioner in Rongo, Migori County, on April 11, 2025.
Photo credit: George Odiwuor | Nation
At some point, he tried selling his land claiming that he wanted to use the money to pay school fees for his children.
"We opposed the idea and advised him to spare the land for his children to inherit in his absence. He agreed not to sell the land but was not satisfied with our decision," explained Mr Nyachieo.
Aware of his whereabouts, the family would sometimes visit him at the church, hoping to speak with him, but they would be barred at the gate. They were not allowed to enter the compound.
Mr Nyachieo said some members of the church would tell them that their brother was away in Seme, in Kisumu County, at another branch of Malkio St Joseph Mission of Messiah in Africa.
"We finally got a call from one of his daughters on Sunday that he was seriously sick and had requested to see us. We rushed there but found him already dead," he said.
With the help of police, the family took the body to the mortuary.
But the move did not augur well with members of the church who declared that they do not believe in conventional medicine. They also wanted him buried within 48 hours.
The family was also informed that Odoyo had left a will stating that he should be buried within the church compound.
However, Mr Nyachieo said they will bury their kin at home in Nyamira.
"We are ready to support the children if they are moved out of the church," he said.
Following suspicious activities at the church including the death of two men at the compound under unclear circumstances, the government decided to suspend all activities therein.
Authorities close Rongo church indefinitely following deaths and illegal burials
Rongo Deputy County Commissioner George Matundura said the sub-county security committee ordered the closure of the church partly for the safety of its members.
"The community living around the church is very hostile and no one will go back there. Just a few people will be granted permission to return and collect personal belongings for all the church members," Mr Matundura said.
He was addressing members of Malkio St Joseph Mission of Messiah in Africa who were detained at Kamagambo Police Station in Rongo Town.
The family of a GSU officer who died and was buried in a church compound seek help from the Office of the Deputy County Commissioner in Rongo, Migori County, on April 11, 2025.
Photo credit: George Odiwuor | Nation Media Group
According to police records, 57 people, including children aged between five and 18 were rescued from the church and taken to the police station.
"Children without parents will be taken care of," Mr Matundura said.
Before closure, a team of health officers from the sub-county public health department visited the church for inspection.
A lawyer representing the church members said he will challenge the decision to close down the church in court.
Mr Bernard Achola of Kerario Marwa and Company Advocates argued that the decision was rushed and failed to give his clients sufficient time to defend themselves.
"We are moving to court to reverse those orders because this is a church that has been in existence since the 1970s," Mr Achola said.
According to Mr Achola, some of the church’s adherents were born and brought up within the church compound. Others sold their property or donated their land to the church for agricultural use and relocated to the church.
“Ordering them to go out of the place is like rendering them homeless, especially for those who sold their land,” he said.
Mr Achola said detention of members of the church at the police station was unlawful and infringed on their rights to worship.
The lawyer particularly raised concern about the status of the children whom he argued were being held in deplorable conditions at the police cells.
"I wanted to know the reason why children who need protection were also being held in such deplorable conditions. The DCC has the powers and the authorities, though arbitrarily exercised," he said.
"None of the police officers was willing to disclose to me the reason why members of this church were being held at the police station, because to us there is no offense that they have committed," Mr Achola said.
According to the lawyer, Malkio St Joseph Mission of Messiah in Africa Church, which is the headquarters of other similar and smaller churches, is duly registered and has all proper documents which he said were presented to authorities in Rongo.
Now the church situated at Opapo village along Rongo- Homa Bay road, which was until Monday teeming with people is a ghost centre with the only noises of birds chirping.
Since Monday, some animals, including cows, sheep, geese and doves have not been fed or given water to drink.
A few that managed to break out of their pens could be seen grazing in a nearby sugarcane farm. The animals have no one to look after them.
Until the police raid on Monday, the church compound was a beehive of activity. Followers living within the church compound had been assigned different roles.
However, this changed when the government directed everyone at the Malkio St Joseph Mission of Messiah in Africa Church to pack their personal belongings and vacate.
Members of the public try to force their way into St Joseph Mission of Messiah in Africa Church in Opapo Village in Rongo, Migori County on April 11, 2025. The body of a GSU officer was buried within the church compound.
Photo credit: George Odiwuor | Nation
An order was issued for the place to be closed and everyone residing there to find alternative places of accomodation.
Security officers rounded up anyone found within the church compound and detained them at Rongo Police Station.
Some of them left their robes hanging on the clothe lines with shoes and sandals strewn all over the compound as they left barefoot.
Inside the kitchen, there were signs of a disruption of cooking with raw food lying in the cooking pots.
Earlier this month, a family from Kisumu had stormed the church to forcefully exhume the body of their kin, a General Service Unit officer, who was buried within the compound just a day after he had died.
During the chaos, part of the church’s perimeter wall was brought down by members of the public who were curious to find out what had been going on within the enclosed space.
