Pastor Kemela Okara gave his life to Christ in January 1992. At the time he was practising law, with the firm George Etomi and Partners, having been called to the Bar of England and Wales and the Nigerian Bar in the late 1980s. Soon after giving his life to Christ he was led to worship at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Apapa Parish, led by Apostle Tony Rapu. It was there he began his journey of discovering the call of God upon his life.
In June 1995 after a brief stint at Jesus House, London, he went on to pastor Jesus Centre, Copenhagen for 1 year. During this time, he tied the knot with the love of his life Chichi and they have been happily married now for 27 years with 3 children, Ebitimi, Pereowei and Tamarapreye.
In January 2001, Pastor Kemela and his family returned to Nigeria after a 5 year missionary stint that took them to London, Copenhagen and back to London. Upon his return to Nigeria, Pastor Kemela resumed legal practice at George Etomi and Partners and later as one of the founding partners of Streamsowers and Kohn. At This Present House he functioned as a teacher of the word, an intercessor, sometime resident pastor and a published author, publishing “Open Windows in Babylon” in 2011.
Pastor Kemela would later heed the call of God to embrace a calling to politics and government in 2010. Thereafter in 2012, he contested for the office of Governor in Bayelsa State as the candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria. From 2014 – 2020 he served in the government of Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, first as Commissioner for Trade, Industry and Investment and subsequently as the Secretary to the State Government of Bayelsa State, the highest appointive position in the State Executive Council. In 2019, he contested the primaries for the governorship of the State on the platform of the People’sDemocratic Party.
In 2020, Pastor Kemela set up the Africa School of Government and Politics to train and mentor aspiring public servants. He was recently appointed Pro Chancellor and Chairman of the governing council of the University of Africa, Toru Orua, Bayelsa State. He also sits on the board of Benel Energy Resources as a non-executive director and is Of Counsel, with Vale Partners.
