There was silence as a Mombasa court on Tuesday heard chilling accounts of how former followers of cult leader Paul Mackenzie were indoctrinated and the subsequent deaths of their loved ones.
The Kwa Binzaro deaths took centre stage in proceedings before Senior Principal Magistrate Eric Wambo, with the court hearing harrowing testimony from two prosecution witnesses.
The prosecution team, led by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Joseph Kimanthi presented witnesses who gave distressing accounts of indoctrination, control, and eventual loss of life.
The first witness, referred only as J.O. for safety reasons, testified that his journey into the teachings of Paul Mackenzie began in 2019 after watching sermons on Times TV on a program titled “end times” messages. He became a devoted follower despite the absence of a physical church in Kisumu.
Over time, he fully embraced the teachings, which taught against formal education, medical treatment, and the use of cosmetic beauty products, all deemed contrary to God’s will.
Consequently, he withdrew his children from school and imposed strict adherence to these doctrines within his household, with his wife also conforming after joining him in the faith.
However, tensions ensued with the local administration in Siaya, when the area chief and assistant chief intervened over the children’s absence from school.
When forced to choose between complying and relocating, J.O. opted to leave. In 2020, after consultations with individuals who had already relocated to Shakahola, he and his family of seven (a wife and his 6 children)embarked on a journey, driven by the promise of spiritual fulfillment in Shakahola.
J.O. recounted that life in Shakahola revolved around strict and coordinated fasting. At one time, his wife and children fled, leaving him alone.
He fasted for a week, initially taking water before continuing without it for two weeks. The wife later returned to Shakahola, where he found the husband weak and emaciated. She is alleged to have taken him away, hence saving him from death.
He testified that his journey to Kwa Binzaro began when his son, Harrison Omondi, from the first marriage, who is currently in custody as an accused in the Shakahola case, called claiming to be unwell. Through that call, he connected J.O. to Mackenzie while still in prison.
He further testified that the accused persons travelled to Busia, and held a 3-day meeting with the goal of persuading people as well as encouraging them to abandon their lives and relocate to Kwa Binzaro, where they would fast till death.
During the meeting, Pastor Paul Mackenzie is alleged to have addressed the congregation via phone call.
Eventually, he told the court that they traveled by bus from Siaya to Malindi, clinging to the belief that they were answering a divine calling. Upon arrival, they were received and directed to settle in different sections of the expansive forest. These settlements consisted of rudimentary mud structures and temporary shelters that offered little comfort.
He further revealed that while direct communication from Mackenzie was rare, it was authoritative and often relayed through the accused persons, including the third accused, who acted as conduits. Followers were discouraged from reading the Bible independently, instead relying solely on teachings delivered through these hierarchical channels.
In an emotionally charged account, J.O. described the progressive deaths of his six children, ranging from the youngest, aged one year, to the eldest, aged sixteen years, recalling how they cried out in hunger and thirst.
Their pleas, he said, were heartbreaking, yet the doctrine demanded endurance. He admitted, with visible anguish, that he participated in the starvation process, believing it was a pathway to salvation.
He stated that he could attest that five of his children died out of starvation, but he suspected that the sixth child was strangled to death. This is due to the girl’s energetic levels when calling for help. However, she was pronounced dead within a few minutes.
The second witness, L.A., J.O.’s wife, corroborated much of his testimony while providing additional insight into the suffering endured. She described how the journey to Malindi was undertaken with hope, yet quickly turned into a nightmare.
The witness described that the journey itself was marked by sacrifice, as the family sold their household items and worked on other people’s farms to raise fare for the trip.
She recounted that Mackenzie’s teachings included assurances that those who died would reunite with loved ones already in heaven, a message that reinforced compliance even in the face of extreme suffering.
She vividly described how children, weakened by hunger, would attempt to flee the forest in search of food or water, only to be pursued, captured, and beaten by individuals enforcing the doctrine.
These beatings, she said, were intended to instill fear and prevent escape. She herself was subjected to physical assault when she questioned the lack of food and water, an act considered defiance within the group.
Both witnesses described an environment where fear, obedience, and manipulation coexisted, sustained by a rigid structure and reinforced by the accused persons, who allegedly received and executed instructions from Mackenzie.
Hearing continues.
Source: ODPP
