By Andrew Kariuki

The hearing of the Kwa Binzaro manslaughter case began today at the Mombasa Law Courts, with Paul Nthenge Mackenzie appearing alongside seven other accused persons in connection with deaths linked to the discovery of bodies and human remains in Kilifi County.

The case arises from investigations into the Kwa Binzaro area, where multiple graves and decomposed remains were recovered, prompting a separate legal process from the wider Shakahola investigations.

The prosecution team, led by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Jami Yamina and assisted by Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Ngina Mutua, presented its opening witnesses before Senior Principal Magistrate Eric Wambo.

Two witnesses testified during the session, focusing on the documentation of the scene and the recovery of evidence.

The first witness, land surveyor Michael Mwaria, told the court that he was part of a multi-agency team deployed to assess and map the area. The team, he said, included both government officials and private sector specialists tasked with documenting the site.

Mwaria explained that the area contained several homesteads and temporary structures. His role involved recording spatial data, including mapping coordinates and assigning identifiers to specific locations such as graves and other points of interest to support the investigation.

He further informed the court that the Kwa Binzaro site is located approximately four kilometres from the Shakahola forest, an area that has also been central to ongoing investigations.

The second witness, Senior Sergeant Livingstone Lihanda, a forensic crime scene officer attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, gave detailed testimony on the recovery process.

He told the court that he was responsible for documenting the scene through photographs and recording all recoveries made during the operation. According to his testimony, investigators documented a total of 28 bodies at the site.

The remains, he said, were found in different states. Some were intact bodies, while others consisted of skeletal remains retrieved from shallow graves. In certain instances, body parts were discovered scattered on the ground, with some bones found piled together.

He also noted that some graves were extremely shallow, measuring about one foot deep, and in some cases contained more than one body.

Lihanda explained that each recovery was carefully documented to maintain evidentiary integrity. He added that forensic procedures were used to analyze and associate body parts in order to reconstruct individual remains for identification, working alongside exhumation and post-mortem processes.

According to the prosecution, the accused persons are alleged to have been involved in a coordinated plan that led to the deaths of both adults and children.

The charge sheet states that between January and July 2025, at Kwa Binzaro in Chakama location, Magarini Sub-County, Kilifi County, the accused persons, in furtherance of what is described as a suicide pact, unlawfully caused the deaths of individuals whose identities and ages are, in some cases, yet to be determined.

The charges have been brought under Section 202 as read with Section 205 of the Penal Code, which relates to manslaughter.

The court is expected to hear testimony from two protected witnesses when the hearing resumes tomorrow.