Two senior leaders of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) are staring at possible jail terms after the High Court found them culpable of contempt for openly defying orders that halted a disputed installation ceremony last year.

Reverends Peter Mwaura Mutahi and David Waihenya were declared in breach of the law after Justice Stella Mutuku ruled that the pair knowingly proceeded with the installation of David Nderitu Ndumo as the denomination’s honorary treasurer, despite a subsisting court injunction stopping the event.

The complaint was lodged by church member Benjamin Njoroge Mburu, who accused the clerics of deliberately undermining judicial authority and fuelling a leadership crisis within one of the country’s largest Protestant churches.

In a strongly worded judgment, Justice Mutuku said the evidence before the court left no doubt that both clerics were fully aware of the injunction issued on April 8, 2024.

The court reviewed video and audio recordings captured during the ceremony, in which Rev Waihenya is heard referencing the order restraining him from presiding over the installation. When members questioned the directive’s implications, Rev Mutahi is recorded shutting down further discussion and insisting the event continue.

“After evaluating all the surrounding circumstances, I am satisfied that the respondents had knowledge of the court order and nevertheless went ahead with the installation,” the judge ruled.

Ndumo’s appointment had been halted after Justice Janet Ongeri issued an injunction tied to a separate case before the Co-operative Tribunal. That matter centres on a Sh5.3 million loan Ndumo allegedly borrowed from Sheria Sacco around 2019.

Fifteen guarantors accuse him of defaulting, forcing the sacco to recover the arrears from their accounts. They subsequently petitioned the court to block his ascension to any senior financial role within the church until the dispute is resolved.

Rev Mutahi and Rev Waihenya were sued alongside the Registrar of Societies. The two clerics are now required to appear in person for mitigation before sentencing, on a date the court will set.

Their conviction marks one of the most consequential clashes between church leadership and the judiciary in recent years — and puts the PCEA hierarchy under growing scrutiny as internal disputes spill into public courts.