• 2023 is a year some will miss while for others it is a year they would want erased from their memory
2023 has been an interesting year.
It was a year that saw people grow while others trended for all the wrong reasons.
Below are Pastors who trended in 2023.
Pastor Paul Mackenzie
Mackenzie was arrested after deaths were reported in a land he allegedly owned in Shakahola.
As of 10 May 2023, 133 deaths were reported including eight who were rescued but later died.
The majority of deaths were of children, with women being the next largest group, according to Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki.
In December 2023, he was jailed for 12 months for the offense of operating a film studio and producing films without a valid license.
Pastor Ezekiel
In April 2023, Pastor Ezekiel was arrested after police inspected a funeral home near his church.
The police said morgue attendants had been collecting bodies at the New Life International Church premises, in Kilifi county.
Police were at the time also investigating Ezekiel's alleged relationship to the controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie Nthenge.
Mackenzie is said to have told followers to starve themselves to "meet Jesus".
Ezekiel's businesses were also probed after that.
Pastor Ezekiel also trended after warning men against marrying a woman named Diana.
According to the Man Of God, a woman named Diana cannot keep a home.
Ushawai kuona Diana yeyote kwa ndoa? Hakuna hata mmoja.Ukioa Diana ushi na yeye, yeye ndiye anakucontrol kama robot. Utaishi na Diana, she becomes the husband. Lakini wewe ndio uwe mume, Diana anaenda, hapo nimeongea ukweli."
He went on to caution parents from naming their daughters Diana.
"Usimpe mtoto wako jina Diana. Sababu akiolewa, utashare na watu. Diana napendwa bila sababu hata kama hajui. Because the name carried the spirit."
Pastor T Mwangi
He trended after opening up on how lucky he was to have survived being infected with HIV/AIDS.
This was after he slept with 2 HIV-positive women.
Pastor T was not saved at the time, He has since given his life to Christ.
"I went to a club and the first thing that happened was a fight, a bottle of alcohol was thrown, ikanipita ikagonga ukuta and the whole club went quiet. How that bottle missed me is only God who can explain."
During the same season, T met a lady whom he had sexual contact with but later succumbed to HIV/AIDS.
"And on that Christmas, I was high and drunk and slept with a lady. Later, we buried that lady with HIV."
T later got into another relationship with a woman who had been infected by her sugar daddy.
"I began to date another lady and the same thing again. I was told that lady was dating a sugar daddy and he was sick and we buried that man."
On Valentine's day the next year, he had played a game with his boys "mwenye ataingiza dem flani box anamepleka Valentines," he said
He was the one who won the game and this is where he knew he had not been infected by HIV/AIDS. He said he had been preserved by The Lord.
"We went to a VCT, I turned out negative by the Grace of God. How The Lord preserved me, I don't know."
Pastor Ng'ang'a
This list would not be complete without the name of controversial man of God Pastor Ng'ang'a.
He is known for making distasteful remarks and this year was no better.
Among the things that saw him trend is saying only stupid people buy phones worth 20K.
"How will you go and buy a phone worth Sh 20,000? Worse, is when you acquire it through an installment plan.
You can only buy a Sh. 20,000 phone if you are stupid because you will have to think about the phone every time,"dramatically questioned the senior Neno Evangelism Centre preacher said.
"This mine cost me Sh 240,000. I was given Sh 160,000 by someone to buy a phone then I topped it up.
So why would you want to buy this phone? You know I don't usually use every application on this phone. I only use WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube. However, I bought it because of my class. If we go to a meeting I just place it on the table," the pastor said.
Elizabeth Mokoro
Reverend Elizabeth Mokoro, a vocal Seventh-Day Adventist, has counselled women to persevere in their marriages despite obstacles.
"The presence of strange women, a mistress, a girlfriend or 'mpango wa kando' does not make null and void the spiritual covenant that you have with the husband of your youth," she said amid backlash from social media users.
"Don't jump out of your marriage because you have heard there is some girl somewhere, that is what the devil wants you to do, to walk away, many have walked away," she added.
The pastor added that if a woman doesn't have a rival, then the husband is 'useless',
"If you have a man with whom you have no rival, then you have a useless man, kitu kizuri kinapiganiwa, no woman takes a man because they are well dressed, there is something the other woman has seen," Mokoro said.
She further advised women to take good care of their husbands so they cannot be snatched.
"You just sit in the house, and look at him like your brother or a child because you went to school, you don't even respect your husband, there is someone somewhere who will snatch him away from you," she said.
"Don't lie to yourself that if you have a ring on you won't be hit on by other people, evil knows no wedding ring."
Jalas Junior’s Appeal to Jalang’o Takes Interesting Turn