The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions on Wednesday presented a forensic expert in the ongoing murder trial of the controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie and a survivor who testified before Lady Justice Wendy Kagendo at Mombasa High Court.
Inspector Emoru Phillip Awuol testified that his team conducted systematic evidence collection, preservation, and analysis, documenting samples for identification of bodies exhumed from the site.
His report, dated August 12, 2025, referenced documentation and sampling carried out at Malindi Hospital and other locations across the country to support DNA identification of victims.
The court heard that on August 15, 2025, investigators working with the Kenya Red Cross Society documented affected families to facilitate DNA matching.
Awuol told the court that internationally accepted DNA sampling procedures were followed, with photography used as a key data collection method.
A total of 46 swab samples were collected and later handed over to the Government Chemist for analysis.
A protected witness identified as K.K. detailed how she became involved with the teachings of preacher Mackenzie and his church, Good News International.
K.K. told the court she had been a devoted follower for over a decade, during which she embraced doctrines centered on end times, rejecting formal education, medical care, and cosmetic use.
She testified that under these teachings, she withdrew her child from school and fully immersed her family in religious instruction.
The court heard that followers were encouraged to isolate themselves and even purchase land in Shakahola, where they would prepare spiritually for what they believed was the imminent end of the world.
K.K further recounted how she was later persuaded through meetings in Malindi to participate in prolonged fasting and prayer with the promise of meeting Jesus.
She traveled to Kwa Binzaro with her child, where they were confined in a house alongside others under strict conditions, including denial of food and water.
According to her testimony, attempts by children to seek water were met with beatings by co-accused individuals, leading to the deaths of at least three minors.
She described disturbing scenes, including children being restrained with ropes, before she eventually managed to escape into the forest.
The prosecution is led by Deputy Directors of Public Prosecutions Joseph Kimanthi and Jami Yamina; Principal Prosecution Counsels Victor Owiti, Betty Rubia, and Frank Sirima.
