One grave at Shakahola contained six bodies laid side by side, Court told

BY ERIC ABUGA

The Shakahola massacre radicalization case against controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie and 95 co-accused concluded with chilling evidence from four key witnesses, including forensic experts and two minors under witness protection.

The Shanzu Law Courts Principal Magistrate Leah Juma was presented with images showing exhumations, autopsies, and DNA sample collections, as well as personal effects such as schoolbooks, Bibles, and birth certificates.

Senior Sergeant Livingstone Lihanda, a DCI forensic crime-scene investigator, presented photographs documenting the grim discoveries at Shakahola Forest. 
Lihanda told the court that investigators uncovered mass graves, some barely two feet deep and five feet long. One contained six bodies laid side by side. 

He also documented Mackenzie’s well-kept home, noting a found meal plan, and the recovery of several motorbikes believed to have been used by followers.

Chief Inspector Erastus Sawe, a Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) forensic expert, tabled video evidence of Mackenzie’s sermons. The clips, drawn from months of review, allegedly show the Good News International (GNI) leader preaching against formal education, government authority, and medical care.

Sawe described Mackenzie’s message as “strong and convincing,” warning that it could easily influence vulnerable individuals. “Being saved is to leave the earthly systems and follow the only true leader, Jesus Christ,” one sermon declared.

The officer testified that watching the footage for nearly six months “day and night” left him emotionally shaken. “Ukiwa na imani fukufuku na uone haya, kwa hakika utaangamia,” he said in Swahili, meaning, “If you have a shallow faith and see this, surely you will perish.”

Two minors under the Witness Protection Agency offered some of the most emotional testimony of the day.

Protected Witness AB, a 10-year-old boy, recounted how children in the camp were forced to fast, told they would “go straight to heaven” if they died of starvation.

He testified that his own mother beat him for secretly eating after two days without food, even handing him over to “Steve,” described as one of Mackenzie’s security aides, who whipped him with a thorny stick. His younger sibling, a toddler, was also forced to fast, given only occasional sips of water.

The boy said he escaped after witnessing burials, including that of three children wrapped in sheets and placed in a shallow grave. He later learned that his mother and youngest sibling had died in Shakahola.

Protected Witness BB, a 16-year-old, told the court he joined the Good News International church in Nairobi in 2019. He recalled Mackenzie twisting Bible verses to convince followers that education, government services, and medical treatment were “the work of the devil.”

Proceedings continue tomorrow with prosecution led by Jami Yamina, Antony Musyoka, J. V Owiti and Betty Rubia set to present more witnesses.