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The woman accused of misappropriating a city lawyer’s wealth lived like a queen, leaving her employer to suffer in squalor.
Ms Lilly Macharia, a bishop at Ministry of Repentance and Holiness, was the manager of Dove Court Apartments, Ms Jayne Njage’s property in Westlands.
Ms Macharia’s church is led by the self-proclaimed Prophet David Owuor and Ms Njage worshipped there.
She is under investigation for allegedly mismanaging Ms Njage’s estate, and on Wednesday, she recorded a statement with detectives at Kabete Police Station.
A visit by the Nation to Dove Court Apartments on Thursday revealed that Ms Macharia ate life on a big spoon.
LAVISH LIFE
From a jacuzzi in the massive bathroom, to in-built microwaves in the kitchen, the furnished apartment that Ms Macharia chose for herself at Dove Court was elegant and tastefully finished.
Ms Macharia’s apartment was fully furnished, with high-end appliances.
There were only a few packets of frozen food in the freezer and packets of juice in the fridge in the tiny kitchen used by Ms Njage, compared to Ms Macharia’s well stocked one.
A television hooked up to CCTV cameras to monitor the compound, ostensibly to monitor Jayne’s movements and visitors, was strategically mounted in Ms Macharia’s living room.
Ms Njage’s quarters, a three-bedroom apartment on the opposite side of the Dove Court, was small and less impressive, despite the fact that she owns the entire building.
Ms Njage’s wardrobe was full of long dresses, clothes the women in the faith wear.
One of the other two bedrooms has hats and shoes left behind by her personal assistants after they were hurriedly evicted.
CHURCH AFFAIRS
It also emerged that in their hurry to leave the apartments after being evicted by Ms Njage’s siblings, Ms Macharia and other members of the church left documents that revealed affairs of the church were being conducted at the apartment.
Flyers for meetings, hymns printed on sheets, and even payment schedules for employees working at Dr Owuor’s Runda mansion were strewn in the apartment that Ms Macharia had converted into an office.
A receipt for a water bill for a house in Runda was among the documents left behind.
The logo on the Dove Court stationery, a flying dove, is actually used as the official logo of the Ministry of Repentance and Holiness.
The address indicated as the church’s base of operations is Dove Court, in Westlands.
INVESTIGATION
Ms Macharia’s house was left in disarray, with a mattress on the staircase, seat cushions on the floor and a big box with food stuff on the kitchen floor.
Ms Njage’s family indicates that she was trying to take away the furniture that she had found in the fully-furnished apartment.
However, the controversial city preacher implicated has not been summoned for questioning by detectives.
According to the head of investigations at Kabete Police Station Francis Wanjau, the flamboyant Owour is not under investigation as the property tussle is only between two church members.
“If we have two Catholics who have a dispute over property, are we going to call the Pope in order to investigate?” Mr Wanjau asked.
He said that should the matter escalate, and should the need arise, then will Mr Owuor be questioned to ascertain if he played any part in the siphoning of Ms Njage’s wealth.
PROSPERITY GOSPEL
According to Mr Duncan Njage, who is Ms Njage’s younger brother, Mr Owuor seemed like a different kind of preacher when he and his siblings met him back in 2005.
Mr Njage said that the charismatic priest was against prosperity gospel and condemned the practice of taking tithes from worshippers, as is the norm with other churches.
Mr Njage said that this stance appealed to his sister, who promptly joined the church.
Shortly after, she felt that he would help her grow spiritually and he moved in to an apartment at Dove Court.
“I was the manager here before and when she got saved and decided that she needed spiritual growth and Mr Owuor said he could help her. He lived here, coming in and going out as he pleased until last week, when we got my sister away from them,” he said.
He also revealed that the preacher also converted Ms Njage’s Riverside Drive home into a base for his church. But top officials of the church claim that the house was only used for bible studies.
HOSPITALISED
Ms Njage over the years started withdrawing from her family and friends, going years without seeing or talking to them.
The death and burial of her mother, her siblings agree, were the trigger that finally broke her out of the trance in which she had been.
Ms Njage, according to her sister Alice Macharia, is currently in hospital.
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