The Director of Public Prosecutions commenced the case against controversial preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and his seven co-accused charged with masterminding another wave of deaths linked to extremist religious practices at the Kwa Binzaro forest site.
Principal Prosecution Counsel Victor Owiti, appearing before Lady Justice Wendy Kagendo at the High Court in Mombasa, told the court that the country is still grappling with the deaths of at least 429 people from the Shakahola forest tragedy.
Even as those cases remain ongoing, Prosecution confirmed that Mackenzie orchestrated a second incident in 2025, resulting in the deaths of at least 52 more followers.
Prosecution stated that the second accused, Shallyne Anindo Temba alias Ann and third accused, Kahindi Kazungu Garama alias Mlewa, acted as Mackenzie’s principal assistants, disseminating extreme Good News International teachings through phone calls and physical meetings.
The fourth accused, Tom Ochieng Mkonwe alias Thomas and the fifth to eighth accused Julius Tuva Luwali, Johnson Gona Richard, Charles Mutua Musee alias Mzee Mutua and James Kazungu Kahindi alias Ponda facilitated the movement of victims.
The court heard that followers withdrew their children from school and travelled with them to the forest for the fatal fast.
Prosecution argued that these acts amount to Murder as a Crime against Humanity a widespread and systematic attack on civilians under a GNI policy to fast to death to meet Jesus.
Prosecutions called first witness, Mr. Michael Mwania, Assistant Director of Survey at the State Department of Lands and Physical Planning. Mwania testified that he was part of a team that mapped the Kwa Binzaro site, recording spatial data, mapping coordinates and assigning identifiers to graves and other points of interest.
He informed the court that Kwa Binzaro is located approximately four kilometres from Shakahola Forest.
Prosecution then called its second witness, Chief Inspector Timothy Bett of the Crime Scene Processing Unit.
Bett testified that investigators exhumed 30 intact bodies and recovered 102 body parts, which through forensic analysis and autopsy correlation were confirmed to form 52 distinct individuals. Bett testified that most bodies were completely naked, with no clothing.
The graves were shallow, measuring less than two feet in depth some barely one foot allowing rapid decomposition and easy access by scavengers. Body parts were found scattered, not confined to graves.
Many graves were deliberately hidden inside thick bushes, with entrances covered by thorny branches. Bett noted that the remains bore all the characteristics of body scavenging by wild animals, with bones disarticulated and dragged away from original burial locations.
Prosecution is led by the Deputy Directors of Public Prosecutions Mr. Joseph Kimanthi and Mr. Jami Yamina; Principal Prosecution Counsels Mr. Victor Owiti, Ms. Betty Rubia and Mr. Frank Sirima; and Prosecution Counsel Ms. Nancy Cherop.
Source: ODPP
