While the Shakahola massacre remains as one of the worst tragedies in Kenya, the story of how security officers acting on intelligence averted further deaths by their swift actions, remains untold.

The operation was carried out on both ground and air, with clear instructions of rescuing victims who were still holed up in the forest.

During the process, three groups each consisting of pathologists, grave diggers, morticians, crime scene officers, and officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations combed the vast area.

Each group also had a human rights representative and public health official.

66 remains were positively identified with samples from relatives by the Government Chemist under the State Department for Internal Security. 120 samples did not generate any DNA profiles out of 340 reference samples received from relatives.

Shakahola tragedy case

The Shanzu Law Courts in Mombasa is continuing to listen to the Shakahola Massacre case involving prime suspect Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and 92 co-accused.

In the latest proceedings before Principal Magistrate Leah Juma, the court heard testimony from a witness, the father of one of the accused, who shared his account of how his son became involved with Mackenzie’s religious movement.The father told the court that his son, through a referral from one of his former high school schoolmates, was introduced to the Good News International Church associated with Mackenzie.

He further told the court that since joining the church, his son, who was undertaking a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at the Technical University of Mombasa, abandoned his education and retreated to the forest in Shakahola.

The witness further told the court that when he questioned his son on why he no longer took education seriously, he said that the world was coming to an end and there was no need to continue with education which was an earthly and evil affair.

He revealed that since his disappearance he could not trace his whereabouts until he received calls from him but whenever he tried to reach him he was unavailable. It was not until he was told of his admission to a hospital in Malindi that he managed to meet him in person.

He said when he met him, he was dehydrated, weak, and could not even talk. He told the court that he could not imagine that his son who was once a rugby player had deteriorated to a state which he could not believe. He also added that his son told him that the church he joined condemned education and that all the academic documents of the church followers were burnt and destroyed in support of Mackenzie’s teachings that education was evil adding that in heaven there is no education.