A witness has unveiled harrowing details of the Shakahola massacre during a court hearing in Mombasa, implicating Paul Mackenzie, the alleged mastermind, in a series of tragic events.
Under the protection of the Witness Protection Agency, a male minor recounted how Mackenzie commanded his followers to fast until death, claiming that Jesus had conveyed a promise of meeting them in heaven instead of returning to earth.
The witness detailed a chilling narrative involving his mother, an ardent follower of Mackenzie, who lured him and his brother into dropping out of school in Mshomoroni, Mombasa County.
“In October 2020, armed with nothing but clothes and a few utensils, the mother and her two sons sneaked out while their father, a matatu driver in Mombasa, was away. They boarded a matatu from Mshomoroni to Malindi,” the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said in a statement.
The minor recounted the heart-wrenching experience of witnessing starvation claims the lives of several children, including his ten-year-old brother. Despite their desperate attempts to escape, the boys were recaptured by Mackenzie’s operatives.
Tragically, the witness learned of his mother’s death days later, after police rescued him and his brother, who were subjected to intensive fasting and deprivation.
Another minor witness shared a similar fate, having been initiated into Mackenzie’s cult by his mother and sister. The family’s faith in Mackenzie’s teachings led them to abandon traditional schooling in favor of “biblical studies,” with their mother ultimately disappearing into the cult’s grasp in 2023.
