'I removed you from Mukuru,' Pastor Ng'ang'a tells wife mid-sermon, triggers chatter

Title: 'I removed you from Mukuru,' Pastor Ng'ang'a tells wife mid-sermon, triggers chatter Category: Entertainment

A sermon delivered by flamboyant Nairobi preacher James Ng'ang'a has ignited a fierce public debate after footage from a televised church service showed him making pointed remarks about his wife, Murugi Maina, telling his congregation that he had personally lifted her out of Mukuru kwa Njenga — one of Nairobi's largest and most economically marginalised informal settlements.

The remarks, delivered mid-sermon in Ng'ang'a's typically unfiltered style, were interpreted by many viewers as a public diminishment of his wife's background, framing her origins as something she should feel indebted to him for transcending. The clip spread quickly through Kenyan social media platforms, drawing an unusually unified wave of criticism from commentators across the political and religious spectrum.

Mukuru kwa Njenga, which straddles Nairobi's Embakasi area, is home to an estimated 300,000 residents and has historically been associated with poverty, limited infrastructure, and significant social challenges. Many Kenyans who watched the sermon were quick to note that the community also carries its own dignity, resilience, and social bonds that should not be weaponised as a marker of shame.

Ng'ang'a, who leads the Neno Evangelism Centre and commands a substantial television following through his syndicated broadcasts, has a long track record of controversial pulpit statements that generate press coverage. Critics argue that his prominence allows harmful rhetoric to reach hundreds of thousands of viewers, including vulnerable women who may internalise such messaging.

Gender rights advocates were among the sharpest voices responding to the footage, calling on the Kenya Film Classification Board and church regulatory bodies to address the normalisation of public spousal humiliation dressed in the language of religious testimony. Murugi Maina had not issued a public response at the time of publication.