ARUNGA LATEST

The family of former TV news anchor Esther Arunga who has dominated news headlines since last week has finally managed to separate her from the controversial Finger of God church, at least for now.

Family sources told Capital News that they are “helping Esther get professional counselling to ensure she recovers from the whole episode.”
Ms Arunga who was arrested on Saturday morning alongside Finger of God Church leader Joseph Hellon, Quincy Timberlake and five of their members was released early Monday before the rest were arraigned in court.

Mr Hellon, Mr Timberlake and the five others denied charges of being members of an illegal society and were freed on a bond of Sh20,000 each apart from Mr Timberlake.

The court was urged not to grant Mr Timberlake bail because he had absconded court in another criminal case which was pending before a Makadara court.

On Tuesday, a family member told Capital News that Ms Arunga was “at home and is doing quite fine.” “She is undergoing counselling sessions and will be okay, she has no problem at all,” the family source said.

Another family member told Capital News that they had resorted “not to allow her back to that church because that is where all these problems started.”

Ms Arunga who recently announced she had resigned from KTN as a news anchor to join the now infamous Finger of God Church has dominated local news with bloggers debating if the church she joined was a cult.

Police have indicated that they would use her as the prosecution witness to testify against Hellon, Quincy and the rest of the church members who appeared in court on Monday and Tuesday.

Police raided Mr Hellon's house in Gigiri at 2am on Sunday and arrested the two and other followers of the controversial Finger of God ministry based in Nairobi's Runda estate.

The suspects were locked up in various police stations in Nairobi. Ms Arunga who spent Sunday night at Muthaiga police station was released on Monday morning on a police bond.