A pastor from Baringo North Sub County is struggling with stigma three months after being acquitted of a trumped-up charge of defiling and impregnating a Form-two schoolgirl.
Evans Bundotich, popularly known as Pastor Nehemiah, said he has endured continuous public ridicule for a false accusation which has greatly ruined his reputation.
He said that the unfortunate turn of events made him lose many friends since the time of his dramatic arrest at Kabartonjo town for the alleged offence that he was informed happened on Christmas eve in 2023.
Speaking to Journalists in Kabarnet town on Tuesday, Pastor Nehemiah prayed that no individual should be made to undergo the humiliation he was subjected to for his faith.
Flanked by his sister and fellow clerics who stood by him, Nehemiah narrated the ordeal he underwent for nearly two years, which made him lose some of his property through an auction in order to finance his epic struggle in the corridors of justice.
“I was ridiculed all through from the moment I was thrown into police cells up to remand prison, where I spent 19 days, but the most painful part was after my relatives struggled to raise a Sh250,000 bond to secure my temporary release but I still overheard some people say bad things about me,” Pastor Nehemiah recounted.
He said he was lucky that his case reached a logical conclusion after DNA tests and inconsistent testimonies from the complainant aided the court in exonerating him.
Despite the tribulations, the man of God stated that he had forgiven all those who framed him for the defilement charge.
His sister, Naomi Ruto, pointed out that she learnt the shocking allegations about her brother through social media and added that the depressing news negatively affected their ageing parents back at home, who received the information with utter disbelief.
She added that they were worried their brother might be overwhelmed by the situation and dreaded the likelihood of him committing suicide.
Wilfred Kandie, an elder from the local church of the pastor, said they hosted him after the district church council relieved him of his duties and he remained as an ordinary member until the time when the trial wound up.
Kandie said that during the time Pastor Nehemiah was suspended, the church offered him psycho-social support but the challenge was organising a fees fundraiser for his school-going children.
“Pastor Nehemiah has a wife and five children and they were living harmoniously; that is why we decided as a church to stand with him through thick and thin, even now when he is gathering his life back again,” said Kandie.
Pastor Joshua Abraham, who was one of the witnesses, revealed that on the fateful day when the pastor was accused, he was indeed ministering at a wedding ceremony which was seven kilometres away from the reported scene of crime and that he even signed a visitor’s book for his church before he hosted him until late in the evening, contrary to the accusation.
He challenged all church members not to make rash conclusions, especially about what is said about their leaders, adding that the devil is targeting the servants of God.
Baringo Human Rights Consortium Chairperson Bishop William Kitilit, apart from urging the society to shun making blanket condemnations, said he has known Nehemiah since his youthful days and added he was someone with the true calling of his vocation and very respectful person.
Kitilit of the ‘Ways of Christ church’ commended the Kabarnet court for adjudging the case objectively while urging other jurisdictions to emulate the same.
He at the same time called on institutions charged with the mandate of overseeing gender-based violence (GBV) to take a keen interest in the male gender, whom he observed lately have been oppressed.
By Benson Kelio
