Double jeopardy? The case of Shakahola

Controversial preachers Paul Mackenzie and Ezekiel Odera are now facing double jeopardy with senators summoning the two over cult deaths in Shakahola, Kilifi County.

The two are part of witnesses set to appear before the Senate ad-hoc committee investigating the mysterious deaths in Shakahola today (Friday).

The committee chaired by Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana has also summoned Director of Criminal Investigations Mohammed Amin and chief government pathologist Johannsen Oduor. 

Also read: Mystery of freshly buried bodies being exhumed in Shakahola Forest

Individual security and administration officers who were in charge at the time the deaths occurred as well as Kaya elders will also appear before the committee.

The Prisons Department has now been notified by the committee to produce Mackenzie who is currently in custody.

Mackenzie is sought to shed the light on his involvement or lack of it in the happenings at Shakahola forest where hundreds of bodies have been exhumed.

The State is treating Mackenzie as the main suspect in the deaths of his followers which post mortem examinations by Dr Oduor revealed to have mainly been caused by starvations.

Autopsy done on the exhumed bodies have revealed that most of the deaths were due to starvation and strangulation. 

Read: 'I was shocked to see on TV my son arrested alongside Paul Mackenzie'

The preacher is accused of having brainwashed his followers, including children and women, through his extremist teachings to starve themselves to death ‘because the world was ending and they could thus swiftly meet Jesus.’

“We have summoned him to appear before us tomorrow (Friday). The committee has expressed the need to speak with him. We are waiting to see if the prison officers will bring him to us or not. We are waiting for him,” said Mr Mungatana.

“As the senate we have done all the paperwork and delivered it to the Prisons department to produce him tomorrow,” he added.

The committee also wants Pastor Odero of New Life Prayer Centre to appear before it to shed light over alleged links to Makenzie.

The State has claimed that Makenzie could have been working in collaboration with pastor Odero, whose church has now been closed by the government as part of crackdown on religious extremism.

However, Odero has denied the claims and is currently out on bail following his arrest, detention and arraignment by the State.

The committee has been investigating the mass deaths for months and was last week granted a 15-day extension, instead of 30 days sought, by the Senate to finalise the investigations and table a report and table its report before the House by Thursday next week.

Initially, the committee had been given 90 days to conduct the inquiry into the deaths but has now sought extension twice due to the volume of work before it.

DCI boss Mr Amin is expected to tell the committee how the dealings of Mackenzie and his church escaped government sleuths as well as the status of investigation to unearth the people behind the mysterious deaths.

This will be the second time the DCI chief will be appearing before the panel to give information. 

Also read: State deregisters Mackenzie, Pastor Ezekiel's churches

The national government has been criticised for lax security and not monitoring the vast forest where the bodies were exhumed properly.

However, Mackenzie has said he will not appear before the committee with his lawyer Wycliffe Makasembo informing the Shanzu Court that he is not prepared to present himself before any committee until he has resolved the criminal case currently pending in court.

“I want to inform Senator Danson Mungatana that we will not appear before any Senate Committee until we have concluded this criminal case before Senior Principal Magistrate Yussuf Shikanda. He should not waste his time,” said Mr Makasembo.

However, the magistrate did not comment on the issue of senate summoning Mackenzie when it was mentioned to him in court.

The court granted Mackenzie and the other 28 suspects seven days to respond to an application by the state seeking to detain them for an additional six months pending the completion of investigations.

This is after Mr Makasembo requested more time to file the response, stating that his doctor had advised him to take a bed rest.

"I have fully recovered, but I have not yet filed a response to the state's application. I have consulted with my clients and Assistant Director of Public Prosecution Jami Yamina, and we have mutually agreed that I be given a week to file and serve the response," said the advocate.

Both the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Attorney General (AG), along with other parties involved in the case, did not object to Mackenzie's request for an extension.

The court was also informed that the probation office has completed the social inquiry for 26 respondents, and the report for the remaining three is in its final stages.

The court had ordered a social inquiry to be conducted on all the respondents, and a report was to be filed in court.

The court has further directed that a report on the investigations conducted by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) regarding complaints of mistreatment of Mackenzie and his group be provided to both the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and the AG.

This is after Litigation Counsel Emmanuel Makuto said the AG had not been supplied with the report for him to comment on the findings of the KNCHR document.

The state has requested an extension of time by six months to detain the respondents to finalise investigation.

This additional time will be used to carry out the necessary scientific processes for identifying the 429 bodies that were exhumed from Shakahola forest.

During the court proceedings, it was revealed that approximately 360 bodies were severely decomposed, resulting in highly degraded DNA material. This degradation has affected the quality and quantity of the DNA samples required to generate complete DNA profiles.

It was also mentioned that the extraction of DNA material from bones can take anywhere from two to 14 days per sample, depending on the level of decomposition.

The state has also argued that evidence obtained through the scientific process is crucial for identifying the victims and deceased individuals. This identification is crucial in initiating proper criminal charges against the respondents and ensuring that justice is served to both the victims and the suspects.

The state emphasized that victim identification is critical due to the various causes of death among the victims. According to the latest data, 214 deaths were caused by starvation, 39 by asphyxia, 14 by head injuries, while the cause of death for 115 remains unknown. Other deaths were attributed to different causes.

The court was informed that a total of 187 children lost their lives in the Shakahola tragedy.

Additionally, the court has heard that Mackenzie and his associates destroyed the belongings of the victims, including birth certificates and identification documents, before burying them in the forest. The case will be mentioned on October 19.

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