- Mackenzie walked into Lango Baya Police Station, which is about seven kilometres from Shakahola and reported allegations levelled against him
- Police directed him to report the matter to the Malindi Criminal Investigation Office
Image: CHARLES MGHENYI
It has emerged that cult leader Paul Mackenzie could have been arrested as early as November 2022, for the allegations of forcing members to fast to death.
Mackenzie walked into Lango Baya Police Station, which is about seven kilometres from Shakahola and reported that “an individual was accusing him of killing and burying people in the forest”.
The matter was booked at the station, but a file was never opened.
Mackenzie was directed by police officers to report the matter to the Malindi Criminal Investigation Office.
They said Lango Baya Police lacked capacity to investigate the matter and Mackenzie's complaint that the allegations had been made on social media would involve cyber crime experts.
However, four months later in March 2023, two people visited the same police station and reported that three children were being mistreated by their parents at the Shakahola forest.
The parents, Isaac Ngala and Emily Wanje, were believed to be members of Mackenzie’s Good News International church.
This prompted the Officer Commanding the Station at the time, Chief Inspector Hamara Hassan, to send two officers to accompany the individuals to Shakahola.
“On coming back, the officers were having a young boy named EN who was very weak. The boy narrated to have been abandoned by his parents with no food. He said two of his siblings had died of starvation and were buried within the compound,” Hassan told the court.
The matter was also booked, but no file was opened.
Some 12 days later, police officers from Malindi and Lango Baya proceeded to Shakahola and apprehended Mackenzie.
He was arrested for murder as he was starving his members to death.
The former Lango Baya OCS was testifying in a case in which the cult leader and 94 other suspects have been charged with 238 counts of manslaughter.
More than 429 people died.
During the cross-examination on Wednesday, Hassan said Mackenzie had been arrested in March 2023, but the case was referred to the DCI team in Malindi due to the sensitivity of the claims.
The matter was booked at the station, but Mackenzie was released on a Sh10,000 police bond, with no file opened.
On March 31, 2023, officers at Lango Baya were tipped that a group of youth believed to be Mackenzie's followers were in a fight with residents of Shakahola.
Eight people were arrested and booked but again, no case file opened.
Asked why he did not open a case file against Mackenzie despite several interactions and accusations, Hassan said the cases were sensitive and were being handled by the DCI.
On April 13, 2023, police went to Shakahola and rescued 15 people who were on the brink of death.
Four died before reaching the Malindi subcounty hospital.
Two days later, on April 15, Mackenzie was re-arrested and taken to Malindi Police Station.
He has not been released since.
Hassan was questioned about his initial interaction with Mackenzie, but refuted knowing the cult leader before his first arrest.
“I did not know Mackenzie and I did not fear him. How can you fear someone you did not know?” the OCS posed, responding to defence lawyer Lawrence Obonyo.
“The first interaction with Mackenzie was when HN reported. And when we went to arrest him. Mackenzie was first arrested on March 22, 2023.”
The court also heard that the cult leader used Bible verses to advance his messages, leading to the mass deaths of his followers.
A witness told Mombasa Chief Magistrate Alex Ithuku that Mackenzie shared radical interpretations of Scripture, including contradicting known verses.
He preached to his followers to abandon work, meals, education, beauty and other worldly affairs.
In some instances, Mackenzie did not refer to any Bible verse, but decreed certain actions to be performed by his congregation.
He also regularly interpreted the dreams of his followers as "words of God" directing them to engage in prayer and non-stop fasting, among others.
The preacher’s instruction on continuous fasting led to the deaths of members, the witness said.
She testified to witnessing the deaths of six people, including a child, near their makeshift home within Shakahola forest.
The witness identified 83 out of the 94 accused as among people she spotted in Shakahola.
Among them were Mackenzie’s armed militia, who were tasked with guarding the sect members within Furunzi in Lango Baya, Malindi, from invaders - mostly locals and herders.