Nairobi Kenya — The Court of Appeal has declined Pastor Ezekiel Odero's bid to lift revocation of Church license for failure to exhaust dispute resolution mechanisms.

This is after Odero moved to the appellate court seeking to suspend High Court Judge Jairus Ngaah's decision in which he was challenging the Registrar of Societies' move to cancel the church's operating license.

A three-judge bench comprising of Justices Daniel Musinga, Kathurima Minoti, and Mwaniki Gachoka, agreed the televangelist should have approached the Ministry of Interior first before going to court.

The court said the televangelist who leads a megachurch based in Mavueni, Kilifi, failed to exhaust all mechanisms before approaching the court.

"In light of the consistent decisions of this Court and the Supreme Court that a party must first invoke the dispute resolution mechanisms provided by the law before resorting to the High Court or courts or equal status, we are satisfied that the intended appeal is not arguable," the bench declared onn Tuesday.

The court subsequently dismissed Odero's application.

Pastor Ezekiel moved to the Court of Appeal aggrieved by the High Court's decision to suspend his church licence, adding that the court erred in law.

He had sought to have this decision suspended pending a hearing and determination of an intended appeal.

Odero's church was among the churches the Registrar of Societies cited for breaching regulations.