Nairobi — The ongoing manslaughter trial against controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie and 94 others took a dramatic turn in a Mombasa court as the prosecution presented its 28th and 29th witnesses.
One of the witnesses, JNK -- a minor -- testified in camera, recounting how Mackenzie's teachings against formal education influenced his parents to withdraw him and his siblings from school, eventually leading to their arrest.
"My father initially opposed Pastor Mackenzie's teachings but later joined him, prompting our family to relocate to Shakahola," JNK told the court.
Once in Shakahola, the witness narrated, Mackenzie convened a large meeting where he ordered a mass fast -- starting with children, then women, and finally men.
"Our parents locked us in a room with no food or water," JNK recounted, adding that he managed to escape by cycling to a children's home in Watamu.
The second protected witness, BMN, delivered an emotional testimony about losing her seven children to starvation.
"My children died of hunger and dehydration. The security men took away any food I had," she told the court.
BMN further revealed that while she was pregnant, Mackenzie forced her to fast in an attempt to terminate the pregnancy.
"After two days without food, I was too weak to breastfeed when I gave birth, and my baby died," she recounted.
She also testified that Mackenzie forbade followers from mourning their children's deaths and that she witnessed several children succumbing to starvation under his instructions.
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The witness revealed she joined Mackenzie's church in 2017 after watching his sermons on Times TV.
"He convinced us to withdraw our children from school, avoid hospitals, reject family planning, and abstain from government activities like elections and the national census," she said.
According to BMN, Mackenzie shut down his church and the Times TV channel in 2019 and shifted communication to a WhatsApp group before urging his followers to relocate to Shakahola.
"We were told to pay Sh2,000 for two acres of land in Shakahola," she testified, adding that her family moved there and began farming.
The prosecution team, led by Assistant DPP Jami Yamina, includes Principal Prosecution Counsels Victor Owiti, Betty Rubia, and Alex Ndiema.
Police arrested Mackenzie last April after discovering over 400 bodies -- including children -- in mass graves in Shakahola, a remote forest about two hours' drive west of Malindi. Most of the bodies showed signs of starvation and assault.
Mackenzie is the leader of the so-called Good News International Church, which forced thousands of followers to live in the forest where they fasted to death, including young children.
He has remained in custody alongside the other suspects since 2023, when they were first arrested, leading to the exhumation of over 400 bodies from shallow graves.
