Mzee Namasaka Barasa took over the sect leadership from Elijah Masinde in 1986. He says all people, including Jesus, are God’s children.
When the legendary founder and spiritual leader of the Dini ya Msambwa sect, Elijah Masinde died in 1986, the State thought the controversial sect had been buried with its founder.
His followers, however, believed that Masinde had just begun a new phase in his two-pronged mystic life.
Masinde claimed the status of a demigod, saying he was half immortal and half human. As such, his followers saw his death as a mere transfiguration and elevation into divine status.
This is why the sect has refused to die and grows stronger by the day.
Leaders of the controversial sect claim nobody can kill the spirit of its founder and the sect whose activities were declared illegal by both the colonial and post colonial governments.
So adamant are they on the infallibility of their sect that they won’t seek registration with the State because this would be "bowing too low to the mortals."
In an interview with The Standard at his Maeni home near Kimilili town, Elijah Masinde’s successor, Mzee Namasaka Barasa, says churches are only answerable to God.
"What we are now pushing for is for the Government to respect us and give us peace in the course of our worshipping," says the 76-year-old Barasa. He joined the sect four years after Masinde founded it in 1938.
The Dini ya Msambwa sect is ridiculed by other Christians with glee that is unprecedented in religious realm. Unlike other religions, it has no room for baptism and English names.
Its doctrines are as controversial as the tens of stereotypes Kenyans have bandied it with. The sect acknowledges the presence of God, but does not believe in the Holy Trinity. Their scriptures have no room for Jesus Christ, whom Christians believe is God’s own son.
"God is the father of all humanity and his doors are open for us to reach him directly but not through other people. We are totally against the said role that Jesus plays between us and God," Barasa asserts.
He says Msambwa sect members are just like Jesus because they are all children of God.
Despite the controversy, the sect uses the Bible in its preaching. However, they use the Old Testament mostly, which Barasa describes as "the true book of God."
They worship in a shrine (Namwima) and nobody enters while wearing shoes. Men dress in white robes and women cover their heads with scarves.
Barasa says they are guided by Exodus, where Moses was commanded by God to remove his sandals "because he was standing on a holy place."
"We have a lot in common with Islam, but only differ when it comes to the kind of literature we use. They use the Koran and we use the Bible."
Previously, the shrines were round mud-walled and grass-thatched structures, but members are now putting up modern shrines, with some being brick-walled.
Inside the shrine, men do not sit together with the women. They sit on the right side and women on the left. During worship, any member can be called upon to lead the service.
"We believe we are all equal and any one of us can conduct the service. We do not have specific pastors for that," says Barasa.
He explains that his leadership role in the church does not necessarily entail pastoral duties. Basara says he’s more of a patron, looking into the welfare of the members, than the pontiff.
The sect does not believe in life after death and there is no limit on the number of wives a man can marry.
"Religious leaders in the Old Testament had hundreds of wives," Barasa philosophises.
They, however, give offering during service just like other religious organisations.
In Kenya, the sect has followers in Bungoma, Trans-Nzoia and West-Pokot districts. Their number is estimated at over 10,000, with several ‘silent members’.
"We also have committed members of the sect in neighbouring Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo," adds Barasa.
He says membership has been increasing even with death of Masinde.
"His death has not changed anything. We are still strong as a sect and membership has been growing with the passing years," says Barasa.
He, however, regrets that most of those who would have wished to join the sect opt to keep away because the Government does not allow them to worship freely.
"Just the way Masinde was frustrated and harassed by the Government during the colonial days and after independence, we have equally not been spared," he explains.