Muthee claimed that police rescued Mama Jane from a lynch mob at the time, and then whisked her away for good after gunning down a pet python they mistook for a demon.

But some residents of Kiambu were somewhat skeptical of Muthee's claims.

Not least among them is the herbalist Jane W. Njenga, a pastor with the African Mission of Holy Ghost Church, who is best known as Mama Jane.

She says she didn't own a pet python and she's never left her compound, located about a half-mile from Muthee's immense new church...Robust and topping six feet in the trademark shiny white robes of her church, Njenga is undeniably still in town.

The story has been picked up (without acknowledging Alsop's work) by the UK Daily Telegraph, under the headline "False claims exposed of Kenyan pastor who protected Sarah Palin from witches". It includes this detail:

...Rival pastors in Kiambu now denounce Muthee for his treatment of Mama Jane.

"You cannot make personal gain on crucifying a woman," said an ally of Mama Jane, Pastor Gideon Maina. "As a man of God, you don't make your name by stepping on other people's names."

Muthee has been endorsed by C. Peter Wagner, leader of the Charismatic "New Apostolic Reformation". A couple of months ago one evangelist for whom Wagner prophesized a glorious future withdrew from public ministry following an affair.