A good reputation is better than money but unfortunately, this is usually in the hands of other people who define it based on your character and at times untrue narratives peddled about you.For half his life, Josphat Kabutiei has been fighting with the African Inland Church (AIC) to have his name cleared of claims that he had a sexual relationship with a female congregant in 1994.Kabutiei, 56 has maintained that he will only get married in a church wedding at the AIC Church in which he grew up and which has to clear him of the allegations first.While this may appear to be a simple matter, the claims made by Mary Boimet were very serious to Kabutiei that he took up the matter with the church leadership and up to the Court of Appeal.The circus began when Boimet’s engagement to Cheserek was on the verge of being broken after details of her alleged relationship with other men emerged placing Kabutiei at the centre of the breakup.
“Despite her being engaged to one Joseph Cheserek, Boimet sent someone and personally approached me requesting that we get married. When I turned her down, she told Cheserek that it was I who was against their relationship,” Kabutiei stated in court documents.“She (Boimet) was a double dealer and when she was caught, she used me as a scapegoat to cover her wrong dealings.” Kabutiei, then a youth leader at AIC Koiserat in Baringo County felt that he had been defamed and took up the matter with the church leadership at the branch level.The local church leadership held a series of meetings hoping to reconcile Kabutiei and Boimet who was also a youth leader at another branch of the same church.In a letter dated April 11, 1995, Boimet made a written apology to Kabutiei acknowledging her mistakes and requesting that he agrees they move on with their lives without bad blood.“I have suffered enough brother. I have cried enough… In fact, it’s unfortunate it’s me who wronged you. Brother, it was not intentional that I did these things. Please understand me. Please forgive me,” Boimet wrote to Kabutiei.A meeting was then held at AIC Koiserat where the two were reconciled but Kabutiei sought to have the apology made public and in all the churches where he was known and the allegations had spread.“We discussed the matter at length. It should be made public that the allegations were false. We request that you inform the respective churches that the two have been cleared and can continue with their duties,” John Chirchir, the church secretary wrote to the District Church Council (DCC).But, in 1995, Rev Zechariah Cheboi who was in charge of Kabartonjo DCC failed to act on the request which made Kabutiei write several letters to him.A DCC meeting was finally held on January 4, 1998, whose minutes indicate that “it was meant to confirm forgiveness, repentance and informing other members that the issue had been resolved.”
At the meeting, Kabutiei and Boimet confirmed that they had buried the hatchet but the matter took another twist after Rev Cheboi declared that he had a bone to pick with Kabutiei.“Rev Chirchir said he was still annoyed by Kabutiei for the many letters he sent to him and his seniors with false accusations. Rev Chirchir said that the matter had been discussed with those concerned and that announcement of the matter in all churches was not necessary,” the minutes read.Kabutiei however resisted Rev Chirchir’s decision saying: “If sin is not announced publicly, the issue remains unresolved. He wanted the real things to be announced well written.”It was at this moment that Rev Chirchir lost his patience with Kabutiei and excommunicated him from the church.“Rev Chirchir declared Kabutiei as one who should not have any relationship with those of the house of God by reading Matthew 18:15 that one should take a step between one with misunderstanding who should be considered a non-believer if he continues to resist the solving of the issue.Boimet was also declared innocent as she had also been forgiven by Kabutiei who dissatisfied with the denial of a public announcement moved to court seeking orders to compel the church official to heed to his demands.
