Bodies exhumed at Shakahola Forest being loaded into a police van in this picture taken on May 16, 2023.
‘I begged my mother not to go back to Shakahola, but she wouldn’t listen. As I was heading to school that morning, I also saw her walking toward the Matatu stage in Malindi. That was the last time I saw her.’
These were the words of a teenager as he explained to Mombasa Chief Magistrate Alex Ithuku court his numerous attempts to save his mother from Kilifi cult leader Paul Mackenzie and his harmful teachings.
This was in February 2023, just two months before mass graves were uncovered in Shakahola forest, where Mackenzie's followers had migrated to.
The mother who migrated to the Shakahola forest with other members of the Good News International church (GNI) in 2020 had just returned to their Malindi home in February 2023.
“She appeared frail and explained that there were no rains and she was facing food shortages. She spent about a week at home during which my siblings and I tried to persuade her not to return there,” said the tearful witness.
The witness, who was 16 years old at the time, mentioned that his eldest brother even bought their mother a gift, a mobile phone, in an effort to convince her not to return to the forest.
This, however, did not sway their mother.
One morning, as he was preparing to go to school, he discovered that his mother had also woken up and was busy packing her clothes.
The witness, guided by a prosecution team comprising Jami Yamina, Victor Owiti, Victor Simbi, Yassir Mohamed, Alex Gituma, Betty Rubia, and Hillary Isiaho, said that when he inquired, she told him she was returning to Shakahola.
“That was the last time I saw her. Since we had bought her a mobile phone, we could now communicate even when she was in the forest,” he said
After her departure, he spoke to her several times but he could not reach her towards the end of February 2023, as her phone was not connecting.
“One day while heading home from school, a former member of the GNI church, informed me that he had received news of people dying in Shakahola and that four dead bodies had been brought to the Malindi Hospital mortuary,” he said.
Upon receiving this shocking news, the minor went to Malindi Police Station, where he filed a report stating that his mother was among those who had migrated to Shakahola.
“I informed my stepfather about the information I had received from the former GNI member. I then picked up a phone and called Mackenzie to inquire about my mother's whereabouts and well-being, but his phone was not going through,” said the witness.
The following morning, they went to Malindi mortuary to check the bodies of four men and one woman who had died in Shakahola and brought to the facility.
He checked the woman and saw that she was not his mother and later in the he once again called Mackenzie using his stepfather's mobile phone number.
“When he picked up my call, he responded to my inquiry that he was unable to know where my mother was at that moment because people had scattered to different parts of the forest,” he said.
He then left his DNA sample at the morgue for analysis. This was after he checked among the rescued persons but failed to find his mother.
The minor was born and raised in a Muslim family where both his parents and siblings were Muslims. They attended Madrasa (Islamic classes) in Malindi.
However, one day he fell sick after the death of their father, so their mother instructed them not to attend Madrasa classes but instead accompany her to Mackenzie’s church in the Furunzi area of Malindi.
“I wish to confirm that my sister and I went with our mother to the said church on a weekday, and while there, a pastor whom I later learned was called Paul Mackenzie prayed for me, and I felt better,” he told the court.
From that point onward, the two stopped attending Madrasa classes and began regularly attending Mackenzie's Furunzi Church for Sunday services. They were then enrolled in Bible study lessons, and before long, they were prevented from attending formal education.
In 2017, the witness was among the seven children arrested alongside Mackenzie for refusing to attend formal school. They were, however, released and became state witnesses against Mackenzie.
They continued attending services at GNI, and while there, Mackenzie’s right-hand man, Evans Sirya, schemed to save their pastor. To prepare them, Mr Sirya, accompanied them on about two occasions to the Malindi courts for familiarization.
“Sirya further coached us that if asked why we had quit education, we should say that we either dreamt or received a vision that education was evil and that in the said dream, we were advised to read some scriptures against education, which we had already been taught,” said the witness.
He stated that Sirya had warned them that the Almighty would punish them for betraying His servant, “Pastor Mackenzie”, if they testified differently from how he (Sirya) had instructed them to.
The witness positively identified Mackenzie, his wife Rhoda Mumbua, and several of his followers in court, including Robert Katana, whom he claimed whipped him severely when he tried to escape from the church.
“That one is Ms Mumbua; she brought her sick sister to Mackenzie for prayer. I later learned she was married to Pastor Mackenzie,” the witness stated during the identification of the suspects in open court.
Mackenzie and his team have denied 238 manslaughter charges, asserting that the deaths in Shakahola are not linked to the freedom of religion and assembly they practiced in the forest.
Through their advocate, Lawrence Obonyo, they have asserted that their teachings and faith are grounded in the Bible.
Hearing continues from September 9.
