Christ Is The Answer Ministries (CITAM) Valley Road has responded to social media claims that the church turned away protesters during protests on Wednesday, June 25.
Speaking on Thursday, June 26, CITAM Valley Road Senior Pastor Rev. Jesse Mwai said the church did not deliberately bar anyone from accessing the facility.
"There were barricades around the city including around and about Valley Road; Valley Road is situated in a security zone because we are just opposite the Department of Defense (DoD).
"The barricades of the police around the area of the church made it very difficult for anybody to access Valley Road more so the demonstrators," he said.
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Mwai noted that the church leadership had made provisions to assist anyone who sought refuge during the unrest but no one showed up.
"At some point our deputy bishop received a call from people who wanted help and he gave instructions to the church caretaker that anybody who needs refuge can be given access.
"Having been given the instructions, the caretaker stayed at the gate until 1:30 AM in the morning; waiting, for anybody who may need help but nobody showed up," he added.
Mwai reaffirmed CITAM’s longstanding commitment to offering care and spiritual support to all in need, regardless of their background.
"As CITAM, we embrace the needy and the vulnerable in society; we don't shut our doors to anybody. You don't even have to be a member of CITAM, we will minister to you it does not really matter," he concluded.
Elsewhere, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has come out strongly against some religious institutions, accusing them of inciting Gen Zs ahead of the Wednesday protests.
Speaking in Makueni County, Kindiki expressed concern over alleged encouragement from certain religious groups, saying it contributed to the widespread unrest.
"I want to thank those churches and religious organizations that prayed for peace and urged our youth to demonstrate peacefully; I thank churches that were of that category.
"However, there are some churches that incited the young people, telling them that they are at liberty to do whatever they want. I want to ask those churches whether the chaos that we saw yesterday is what they were advocating for,” he said.
