Inside Story: Chemical Engineer Cum ‘Mightiest’ Man of God – Dr. David Owour

The man of God Prophet Awour has had his share with the Kenyan people. It’s amazing how he can pool such a mass of people around the country, many would say he is ‘worshipped.’ The new controversy surrounding David Owuor has sparked debate over the man who claims to be the mightiest Prophet of God.  Little was known about Prophet doctor David Owuor before the mid-2000s. A man whose followers are known to wash the streets sparkling clean awaiting his arrival, who claims to heal the sick, to make the blind see and most recently raise the dead. But perhaps the most controversial aspect is Owuor’s lifestyle. A man who reportedly collects no tithe, lives large and drives in a presidential-like convoy with a heavy police escort.

 How did he shift from chemical engineering to preaching around the world?. A man born to a humble family in 1966; with a civil servant father and a housewife mother from Goma village in Bondo appears to have led a relatively quiet life as a scientist.

The earliest publicly available footage shows a clean shaven, beardless but poised Owuor preaching in what is believed to be Nakuru town in 2004. Within the 5 years, the self-proclaimed Prophet managed to build a huge following, preaching repentance and the second coming of Christ. Prophet Owuor’ was gaining national traction, even anointing politicians on his podium like the former Bomet Member of Parliament Nick Salat. But it wasn’t until May 2009 when Owuor grabbed the nation’s attention as he paraded a barefoot then Prime Minister Raila Odinga in a rare public declaration of faith and repentance.

By 2013, when the fate of the general election was clouded by the ghosts of the 2007 post-poll chaos, Prophet Owuor was the go to person, bringing together all presidential candidates in a rally of reassurance. Cladded in a white suit, Prophet Owuor sells an image of a humble servant of God but his style of preaching has always remained controversial. There was a recent video that went viral online, prompting the Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet to reprimand his misuse of police officers.

Today, the self-proclaimed Prophet who prefers to be called “Mighty” may find himself under the close scrutiny of the law. But 15 years after his humble beginnings as a door to door preacher in Nakuru, David Owuor’s influence in Kenya, though questionable, is undeniable.