Prime suspect in the Shakahola massacre, Pastor Paul Mackenzie, is accused of twisting biblical teachings to force his followers into severe fasting, which resulted in mass fatalities, according to witnesses testifying against him.
Prime suspect in the Shakahola massacre, Pastor Paul Mackenzie, is accused of twisting biblical teachings to force his followers into severe fasting, which resulted in mass fatalities, according to witnesses testifying against him.
Mackenzie, the head of the Good News International Church, is charged of planning the murders of hundreds of his adherents in the Shakahola Forest along with his wife Rhoda Mumbua Maweu and ninety-three other people.
Speaking on the witness stand on Wednesday, two witnesses informed Mombasa Chief Magistrate Hon. Alex Ithuku Mackenzie that certain men and women fasted inside the Shakahola forest, depriving their children of food and water until they perished.
This was done according to their interpretation of God’s word.
Additionally, a 17-year-old girl told the court how Mackenzie interpreted biblical passages in light of his radical interpretation, frequently putting well-known scriptures in conflict.
The child testified that Mackenzie told his followers to give up on labor, education, and other worldly concerns, in contrast to the well-known scriptural teaching that “Whoever doesn’t want to work shouldn’t be allowed to eat.” She disclosed how Mackenzie would frequently read his followers’ dreams as instructions from God to continue fasting and prayer nonstop.
The witness went on to say that she saw six individuals, including a kid, die next to their improvised home inside the Shakahola jungle.She described the terrible demise of a few victims who were interred in small graves deep within the forest; Mackenzie is said to have called this custom “harusi,” or weddings, a metaphor for traveling to meet Jesus.
Among those she saw within the Shakahola forest, the prosecution witness recognized 83 of the 94 defendants. Some of them served as Mackenzie’s armed militia, whose job it was to protect them against intruders, primarily residents and herders in Furunzi in Lango Baya, Malindi sub county.
Hamara Hassan, the former officer in charge of Lango Baya Police Station, stated in court that Mackenzie had previously complained to the police about a number of incidents, one of which was a woman being accused of defamation for saying he was in charge of ferrying and killing people inside the jungle.
Following the operation, 15 followers who were critically weakened were found; three of them perished during the attempt to rescue them.
