A Shanzu court in Mombasa heard that Paul Mackenzie’s armed militia stripped women naked and tied their legs to starve them to death, and that burials of the victims were celebrated as ‘weddings’ of martyrs destined to be received by Jesus Christ in heaven.
A witness, who sought protection, cried in court while narrating how he and some land buyers heard groans of women crying for help from Mackenzie’s expansive farm adjacent to his parcel of land.
He said that he and some three women who wanted to buy Mackenzie’s land stopped to establish the source of the disturbing female voice. The court was told that the witness and his visitors spotted four emaciated naked women lying “on what appeared to be a mat spread under a tree canopy pleading” for help with strained voices.
He stated that a friend had told him about cases of people starving to death inside Mackenzie’ farm and it became reality when he saw those women.
The witness testified that a group of men armed with machetes and other crude weapons emerged from the forest and thwarted their effort to rescue those women with chilling warnings. The man stated that they abandoned their plan and went to Lango Baya Police Station before they were directed to report the incident to Malindi Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) offices.
The following day, he led a team of detectives to the forest and discovered more emaciated women and men rescuing between 15 to 16 people and arrested some four-armed men. One of two rescued women died after being pulled out of a grass thatched hut while another man died in an ambulance rushing survivors, including a 17-year-old boy, to Malindi Sub-County Hospital.
Senior police officer testifies
A senior ranked police officer at Lango Baya Police Station informed the court that on March 17, 2023, two people reported a couple who neglected their three children subjecting them to starvation within Shakahola “kwa Mackenzie”.
Senior Sergent Cyrus Irungu narrated how the men and an emaciated eight-year-old rescued boy led them into areas dotted with graves within Shakahola forest. The minor had been found in the hands of an elderly woman who escaped as the officers searched the area for other victims.
“The minor told us his mother had gone for a “harusi” (burial/wedding ceremony) and directed us to a few metres from their house and pointed to a flattered grave of his brother’s “harusi” place, meaning burial site,” Irungu testified, stating that “they returned to Lango Baya police station and reported to the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) who called for reinforcement” that led to more discovery of graves and rescuing of survivors and arrests of suspected Mackenzie’s followers.
Further hearings continue from 22-25 July, 2024.
Mackenzie’s charges
Mackenzie and 94 others are charged with engaging in organized criminal activity, radicalization and facilitating the Commission of a Terrorist Act, and being in possession of an article connected with an Offence under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2012.
It is alleged that on various dates between 2020 and 2023, the accused persons, who were members of the Good News International Ministries, an organized criminal group, engaged in organized criminal activities at Kwa Mackenzie area of Shakahola Forest, Chakama Location of Magarini Sub-County within Kilifi County, endangering lives and killing 429 members and followers.
They are also accused of promoting and/or adopting an extreme belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence namely fasting to death by advancing religious change, which occurred between 2020 and 2023 at Shakahola Forest within Kilifi County.
The accused persons are also said to have facilitated the commission of a terrorist act by transporting the members and followers of Good News International Ministries between Shakahola Forest and Malindi Township within Kilifi County, thereby endangering their lives.
It is alleged that Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and two others, within the same period at Furunzi area in Malindi Sub-County within Kilifi County, were found knowingly in possession of CDs, DVDs, books and pamphlets for use in instigating the commission of a terrorist act, namely endangering the lives of the members and followers of the Good News International Ministries.
The Prosecution team is led by Peter Kiprop.
