By Fredrick Odiero
Archbishop Moses Oketch, the current head of the Nomiya church in East Africa, has managed to execute a balancing act in life quite well. The man heads the Nomiya church and also lectures at Maseno University where he teaches special education.
Born and bred in Kasagam, Kolwa in Kisumu county, Bishop Oketch considers himself a self-made man since he started from the lowest level and rose to his current position.
‘I went to local schools before moving to Otieno Oyoo high for my ‘O’ levels. I then pursued a Primary 1 teaching certificate at Kamwenja Teachers Training College in Nyeri before going to the Kenya Institute of Special Education. I later did my Masters in Manchester,’ he said.
For him, the sky is not the limit as he is currently doing his Doctorte course.
Oketch believes that his episcopal mission is still possible even as he lectures students.
When he assumed the reigns of the Nomiya Church more than four years ago, his first episcopal mission was to erect modern buildings for the flock all over East Africa
“Some of our churches are still made up of makeshift structures and that trend must be reversed at all costs. Members of the church must be accommodated in more decent structures,” he said at his Nyamasaria residence in the outskirts of Kisumu Town.
The cleric said that he wants to ensure that members of the church throughout East Africa remain united since that is a biblical requirement.
“I consulted my church members who have agreed on the need to trim down the number of Bishops to manageable levels. It is our wish that we have one Bishop in each county ,’he says.
He believes in upholding the tenets of the church which were left behind by founders of the church.
‘The church, which was founded in 1907, allows polygamy as long as the man can support all his wives. Members of the church are also allowed to circumcise their boys on attaining eight days of age as directed in Genesis chapter 17:9,’ he said.
Some female members of the Nomiya Church.
He added that circumcision is a demonstration that a member is adhering to serve God and that it is done by trained practitioners called sharifs after the boys have been baptized.
‘A non-circumcised member is prohibited from taking any leadership position,’ he said.
The cleric further explained that the church also allows men to inherit wives within seventy days after a woman loses her husband.
The church also has a tradition that a woman who has given birth should refrain from sexual intercourse for 41 days.
‘The church does not allow parents to be intimate to allow for the healing of the child after the cut,’ he said.
Nomiya Church is a splinter of the Catholic Church. “Nomiya” is Luo word for “I was given”.
Rev. Moses Oketch of Nomiya Church with his church members.
The cleric said that Nomiya has three churches in Kakamega, 12 in Nairobi, nine in Mombasa, five in Eldoret, four in Nakuru and two in Thika. It also has six churches in Tanzania spread from Kogaja at the Kenya-Tanzania border to Mwanza.
Oketch says the church and its history has been covered in both religious education and history subjects in secondary school syllabus of the Kenyan educational system over the years.
‘Nomiya has earned the reputation of an African church that not only encouraged the education of its members, but also set up schools.’ He said with a smile.
He says the ideals of the church were not fully realized since the government did not render full support to Nomiya-founded schools despite the several efforts his predecessor the late Gideon Charles Owalo made.
Oketch said that the schools were placed under the District Education Boards and that the church lost influence and control over them.
He said that the current wrangles in some churches are uncalled for since they are materially motivated.
‘The church and the state are inseparable so men of the cloth should rise above politics,’ he advised.
The cleric said that politicians are free to give any form of donations to his church so long as they do not have any strings attached.
The clergyman is the father of Mr. Eliud Owalo, former campaign manager for ODM leader Raila Odinga. Eliud is currently a strategist in the camp of deputy president Dr.William Ruto.
