A Kenyan man who claims to be Jesus Christ was on Friday locked up by a court in Bungoma County for four more days to allow a mental health evaluation.
According to The Nation, Eliud Wekesa, alias Yesu wa Tongaren, who leads New Jerusalem Church, is accused of running a religious cult in Tongaren, purporting to be Jesus Christ.
Elijah Macharia, the Bungoma County director of criminal investigations said that they want to ascertain the preacher’s mental status in their investigation into alleged offences including cult activities.
Wekesa will be held at Bungoma Police Station, Principal Magistrate Tom Mark Olando said in his ruling.
Olando ordered that investigations be conducted within four days to enable the court to give a ruling on whether or not Wekesa can take a plea. Said Olando:
The court expects the DCI to take the accused for a psychiatric assessment, conduct thorough investigations of his church and search his residential premises within four days.
Before his appearance in court on Thursday afternoon, Wekesa was questioned by investigators for three consecutive days.
He spent Thursday night in a cell after a court in Bungoma said it would rule on his fate on Friday. The police had asked the court to allow them to detain him for seven days for interrogation and further investigations. Macharia, in a sworn affidavit, claimed the accused had refused to undergo the checks.
The police further requested the court to grant them a search warrant for Wekesa’s house and place of worship. They also argued that he would interfere with witnesses if released from their custody.
Wekesa’s lawyer Wamalwa Simiyu objected to the request to detain his client and accused the police of arresting and arraigning him without conducting proper investigations.
The case will be mentioned on 16 May. A mention simply means where a matter is “mentioned” in Court. It is where the matter is not formally listed for a plea of guilty or a plea of not guilty.
