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By:
Press Release, PCEA Ushindi Church | |||||||||
| Posted:
Oct,18-2018 00:42:42
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The above case (Superior Court Civil Action Docket Nos: 11-0694/11-1729 and 2014-08026-L2) has been settled out of court. The plaintiffs in the above case were the Kenyan Community Presbyterian Church, the Presbytery of Northern New England, Joyce Gathoni and Wilson Wachira, both of Ushindi church who were officials in the church then. The former was the Secretary and the later the Finance Chairman.
They were accused of transferring the church funds in the Bank of America for safe custody with the Presbytery of Northern New England (PNNE) since the church then was in chaos. The Presbytery was given by the court authority to hold the funds until the case was settled. Surprisingly, the treasurer of the church, who was party to the transfer, for unknown reasons, was not adjoined to the suit. The Presbytery faithfully held the funds until the case was settled by the plaintiffs and the defendant (Anthony Wachiri Karimi) at the end of July.
The case was initiated on March 3, 2011 and has dragged on for the last 7 years. These have been weary, tiring and exhausting years that both drained the parties concerned of both mental and emotional energy on top of strained relationships all along. In between two other motions were filed in court and the defendant failed in both. It was a sigh of relief when this case was finally settled thus igniting a high possibility of good and healthy neighborliness and cooperation in the work of serving both God and our fellow men/women within our reach and even beyond. It was a healing gesture and we thank God for it. It is proof to all of us that we can live and work together and settle our differences without taking recourse to the courts.
This is how we arrived at the settlement: The lawyer of the defendants wrote to the lawyers of the plaintiff on March 27, 2018 and conveyed to Ushindi Church that his clients (the defendant and members who left Ushindi to form Neema church who he represented, were prepared to settle what he described as "a long-outstanding and tortured litigation" without "casting blame" on anyone. The individuals he represented were willing for a 50/50 division of all the accounts particularly in the escrow account held by PNNE. Ushindi had two accounts and the funds in both were to be shared in the same ratio. The Ushindi leaders were okay with the proposal and voted to go along with it since the it was not about the money in the first place. Money came in as a collateral damage to what the real issues were. So, talks between the lawyers on both sides were held and finally the matter was settled, bills were paid up to the time of the settlement from the service account that the court had ordered from very early in the case to be used for payment of the bills for the Ushindi Church. It's is a fact that Ushindi was the beneficiary of the funds in this account, not by choice but because the court had ruled so. This should not be construed to mean the present Ushindi is unable to pay for its bills as alleged in a video on Facebook (Watch Video Here from 4th Minute Mark >>). This ruling did not come with the present Ushindi, it was made when Ushindi was one church. The settlement agreement was signed by lawyers of both parties, the individuals named (Gathoni, Wachira and Karimi), and the trustees of PNNE. Contrary to what has been circulating online, PNNE never come for, took or used Ushindi's monies. It was Ushindi office bearers that requested them to hold the money for them as they resolved the serious matters that were confronting them at that material time. The money was returned intact when the settlement was signed by the above parties. The $230,000.00 was divided equally between Ushindi and Neema (the pastor signed for both himself (as the defendant) and Neema as duly authorized by her). Each party carried away $115,993.44, through their lawyers. The service or revolving account (for lack of a better word) was by the time of settlement and after paying both the then current and outstanding bills almost depleted and there wasn't much to share from it. We thank God for the end to that period of confusion and unease and regret having put ourselves into such a scandalous and divisive situation. We pray to God to help all concerned to forgive, seek healing and recreation of fresh relations and fellowship. We have all learned a lesson that brotherly existence is far much better than strained relations that do not help, but only alienates people. But we have a God that is "a God of new beginnings". For the sake of Christ and the glory of his Father's name, may we approach his throne of mercy and seek Unity and acceptance of each other so that our service to our people will shine with glory that only God can give. For the sake of our families, our community and our churches, may we live in Unity, Peace and Liberty so that plenty will be found within our borders. Let me end with the words of Paul to the church at Corinth 6:1ff: If any of you has a dispute with a believer, how dare you to file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers?" Let us strive to live in peace with one another and when disputes arise let us trust our systems to solve them instead of rushing to the courts. We at Ushindi have been through that and to be sure, it wasn't the best of experience. We are moving on and aspire for God's grace and rising to even greater levels. God bless you all and let's live the prayer of Jesus in John 17:21... "I pray that they be One, as You, Father are in me and I am in You...". Divided we fall, united we stand. (Documents exist to back up all the facts in this release). | |||||||||
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Source:
Ushindi Church
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