On August 31, 2019, a prayer service at Mountain View SDA church in Kangemi was disrupted when a rival group stormed the venue, prompting a tense standoff between two groups of pastors.
Central Kenya Conference (CKC) pastors John Kiragu and two colleagues were accompanied by several security officers dressed in black suits, who arrived at the church in a show of force.
The tension was sparked by a long-standing dispute over the 2015 election of CKC heads, which has since boiled over to its branches, with Nairobi Central SDA (Maxwell Church) becoming the first casualty.
As a result of the bungled election, a splinter group, Nairobi Cosmopolitan Conference, was registered to accommodate disgruntled members.
On Friday, August 9, the CKC executive office excommunicated 15 members deemed to be troublemakers and asked pastors not to entertain or give them audience in any of their churches.
Police were called in to avert any possible breach of peace, and the church has remained divided ever since.
