Premium
Pastor denies stealing Sh23m from donors
Pastor Daniel Bushebi Munalo at the Milimani Law Courts, Nairobi on March 13, 2025.
A pastor accused of stealing Sh23.5 million donor funds has denied the charges.
Daniel Bushebi Munalo, a senior pastor at Word of Life Centre, was charged with stealing the money between November 1, 2019 and August 9, 2021.
Munalo, one of the appointed agents of the Word of Life Church, was accused of stealing the money entrusted to him to run the operations of the church.
The money was wired from the church sponsors based in Canada, and part of it was to be used to buy land.
The pastor faced four counts of stealing by agent and presenting fake documents at Eco Bank, where the church holds an account.
It is alleged that on August 6, 2021, at the Eco Bank Plaza 2000 within Nairobi County, Munalo presented a fake letter for change of account mandate for the church's bank account.
Another charge stated that on March 1, 2019, at Eco Bank West Minister Branch within Nairobi, he presented another fake letter for change of account operators’ name.
Munalo was further accused of presenting yet another fake letter on February 2021 for the change of name of the account operators.
The pastor’s lawyer, Kavutha Muthama, said the pastor is being persecuted unfairly and pleaded for his release on bond.
She said the church has seven pastors and the accused is the senior most who oversees an array of operations.
She added that the church account has five signatories and are jointly operated, and questioned why the other co-signatories were not charged.
The lawyer asked for lenient bond terms, saying that the pastor is not a flight risk.
The prosecution did not oppose the pastor’s bond plea but asked the court to consider the gravity of the matter in awarding bail and bond.
Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Dolphina Alego granted the pastor a cash bail of Sh2 million with alternative bond of Sh10 million.
The case will be mentioned on March 27, 2025 for pre-trial and directions.
