"I had to move out from the parish where I was staying to my rural home. But my children were the subject of ridicule and my wife had a difficult time coping," he said, adding that shortly afterwards, his father's health deteriorated leading to his death. His mother-in-law also died shortly thereafter.

"He had been sickly but the condition worsened when he heard what people were saying about me," Gachau says. He added that his children had a really difficult time in school. "They were ridiculed by friends who made fun of them saying "si hawa ni watoto wa yule mchungaji (aren't these the children of the disgraced Reverend?)"

But now he wants to put the past behind him. Gachau, who has served as a minister for 16 years, was tried through a tribunal set up in secrecy by Bishop Joseph Kagunda and accused of having had same sex relationship with a young cleric at Kagongo Parish where he was based. The verdict was swiftly delivered and a letter informing the congregation of his dismissal and the reason behind it was read out in churches across the parish.

Gachau was accused alongside Rev James Maigua and Rev Paul Warui. They sued the Anglican Church of Kenya following their scandalous dismissal and the damning allegations.

Following a bruising legal battle, the High Court in Nyeri ruled in their favour and Archdeacon Gachau is eager to move on from "the most turbulent period of my life."

In his ruling, Justice Byram Ongaya ordered the trio to report to Bishop Reverend Joseph Kagunda for deployment. The jubilant trio held prayers of gratitude to God for their victory outside court premises.

Besides ordering their reinstatement, the court awarded each of them a Sh2 million payout for the psychological torture they underwent. Combined with his accrued salary from August 2015 when his licence to officiate was revoked, Gachau will pocket Sh2.5 million.

"Money is not the motivation. That is not what took us to court, it was just a bonus," he told The Nairobian.

Gachau says that they moved to court to clear their names and get back their jobs as whoever instigated the accusations didn't have good intentions.

"We were forced to walk around as the priest who were fired because they were homosexuals."

In court, he testified that church politics may have played a part in his persecution.

"I contested to be bishop alongside Reverend Kagunda and lost, but I was still very popular in the diocese," he said. He however, does not dismiss the possibility of running for the seat again.

"Whether I will contest for the position of bishop is for the congregation to decide. If it gets to that and I am nominated, I will vie," he said, adding that, "I have forgiven him (Bishop Kagunda). I don't have any bitterness in my heart."

END