Josephat Mugo Njeri, known as Pastor Victor, says his life was upended after a stranger who gave him a car later accused him of stealing it.
Pastor Victor, born in 1986, embraced Christianity in 2004 and rose through church ranks before starting his own ministry.
In 2021 a man approached him and offered a Toyota Probox, saying it was meant to help with church work.
The stranger told Pastor Victor the car’s logbook would be handed over after three weeks, once an outstanding loan on the vehicle was cleared. Trusting the man, the pastor accepted the car and used it for daily ministry while he waited for the paperwork.
About three months after receiving the vehicle, Pastor Victor says the car disappeared one night during a church vigil.
He reported the theft to the man who had given him the car, but the man reportedly reacted calmly and did not help.
A few days later, the same man summoned Pastor Victor to a police station and demanded payment for the vehicle, saying it was worth KSh 450,000.
The situation took an even darker turn when detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) became involved.
Instead of being treated as the victim of a theft, Pastor Victor says he was accused of stealing the very car he had been given. He was charged in court and urgently needed a lawyer to defend him.
Pastor Victor says he paid over KSh 25,000 to a lawyer to handle his case. He claims the lawyer failed to file essential paperwork, leaving his defence incomplete.
As legal fees rose and debts grew, the pastor says he could not keep up with the costs. He also feared the threat of auction on his property to settle bills.
With no strong defence presented and mounting financial pressure, the court remanded him to prison.
... Nakuru Pastor Jailed After Stranger Who Gifted Him Car Changes Tune ... Sportify Post.