The High Court at Mombasa heard chilling testimonies in the case where 30 suspects, among them controversial preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, are charged with the murder of 191 children in the Shakahola massacre.
Lady Justice Diana Kavedza Mochache heard testimony of four witnesses, including a homicide detective and bereaved family members, who relived the tragic deaths of their loved ones inside the Shakahola forest.
Detective Corporal Andrew Kisaka of the DCI Homicide Unit testified that he was part of the team that exhumed bodies from shallow graves.
He told the court that he was tasked to handle children’s bodies with some of the remains decomposed beyond recognition, while others showed signs of manual strangulation.
He said he was tasked with transferring the bodies to Malindi Sub-County Hospital for preservation and DNA analysis. The detective presented over 100 postmortem reports with detailed information, including the state of each bodies and the causes of death.
During examination in chief by Assistant Directors of Public Prosecutions, Jami Yamina and Ngina Mutua and Principal Prosecution Counsel Betty Rubia, the witness told Justice Mochache that the identities of some bodies are still unknown despite DNA analysis.
He stated that some graves contained several bodies, whilst some were found empty, presumably bodies transferred elsewhere to conceal from authority. He said locals who helped them received counselling due to trauma of being exposed to the harrowing state of the exhumed bodies.
A retired teacher, Francis Kahindi Wanje, described how his daughter, her husband, and three grandchildren perished in the massacre. Wanje recounted visiting the forest where he was shown their abandoned home and graves believed to hold their remains.
“Two of my grandchildren died in the forest. I managed to bury one after DNA identification, but another body is still missing. My son-in-law’s body is still in the morgue because his father has not been able to cope with the trauma,” he told the court.
He added that he had undergone counselling at Chiromo Hospital at his own expense, saying the experience left him deeply scarred. The retired tutor said his late daughter is only survived by her elder son, the only survivor of the family.
His son-in-law, a GSU officer, perished alongside his wife and three children under 10 years old. Another witness, Gertrude Luvuno Deche, narrated how her sisters Josephine Mwatsuma and Elizabeth Dzidza Mwatsuma died along with their children. She told the court that her sisters became hostile to relatives, and efforts to rescue them from the massacre hit a snag.
This is after reports emerged from neighbours and relatives that Mackenzie’s followers had begun fasting to death to meet Jesus. She testified that her two sisters and their 10 children died.
Josephine Mbodze Mwatsuma was married to Evans Kalombe Sirya, the 4th accused person and had six children. Elizabeth Dzidza Mwatsuma, who was married to the 8th accused person, Julius Katana Kazungu had four children.
The witness testified she lost her sisters alongside their children and husbands, now staring at a longer jail term, in case they are convicted of 191 counts of murder. Elizabeth’s body was later identified through DNA testing, while Josephine’s husband Evans Sirya, denied reports of his wife and children’s deaths.
The hearing was adjourned to October 6–9, 2025, with 17 witnesses scheduled to testify, approximately four per day.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations have identified more graves at Kwa Binzaro village, Kilifi County, located around 30 km from Shakahola. 32 bodies have been exhumed.
The discovery of additional grave sites is shocking, with growing uncertainty about how many people were actually living in the village and how many remain unaccounted for even as the probe continues.
Source: ODPP
