Protected witnesses share testimony in Mackenzie mass murder trial
At Shakahola, P.P. said followers were told to fast to death in stages, children first, followed by women, the elderly, and finally Mackenzie.
Prosecutors on Tuesday presented several protected witnesses before Lady Justice Diana Kavedza at the Mombasa High Court in the ongoing murder trial of preacher Paul Mackenzie and 29 co-accused over the deaths of more than 400 people, including 191 children, in the Shakahola Forest massacre.
A 19-year-old man, O.H. alias P.P., testified that he and his parents were forced to convert to Christianity to join Mackenzie’s Good News International Church in Nairobi.
The witness recounted how Mackenzie used memory verses and CDs to denounce education, medical care, and even registration drives such as the Huduma Number, which he called the “mark of the beast.”
At Shakahola, P.P. said followers were told to fast to death in stages, children first, followed by women, the elderly, and finally Mackenzie.
He described burials disguised as “weddings,” where children, including the daughter of an accused, were said to have “wedded Jesus.”
In court, he identified the accused persons who dug graves and concealed bodies, as followers sang praise songs. He also detailed grave-digging activities, the tools used, and literature that spread Mackenzie’s teachings. He eventually escaped with the help of a village elder.
The second witness, a 10-year-old boy, E.G.W., said his father took him to Shakahola’s “Bethlehem” area, where he saw his siblings die.
He identified “death clothes” he had been told to wear—a turquoise blue shirt and white trousers—and confirmed the identities of his deceased mother and brother through DNA-backed post-mortem reports.
He was later rescued and hospitalized.
The third witness, 18-year-old J.N.K., told the court his mother pulled him out of school in class five after embracing Mackenzie’s teachings against education and medicine.
Briefly, he was placed in a Malindi children’s home after his arrest for truancy, but later taken to Shakahola by his father. There, he found his missing mother and siblings and witnessed more “weddings” and fasting rituals.
He said he escaped after being locked in a house with his siblings for a week without food, breaking through the roof and fleeing on his father’s bicycle to Kakuyuni village.
Later, he was placed in a children’s home, received counselling, and helped police trace his family’s home in Shakahola, known among followers as “Judea.”
The hearing continues tomorrow, August 26, with more witnesses expected to testify.
