WhatsApp messages reveal how Mackenzie persuaded his followers to abandon homes for Shakahola
The officer said the bulk of the material centred on fasting, prophecy, the Antichrist, the Beast, the New World Order and repeated references to the number 666.
Fresh details have emerged in the Shakahola starvation case after a digital forensics officer told the Tononoka Children’s Court that mobile phones linked to cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie contained instructions which drove his followers into the forest.
Chief Inspector Joseph Kolum, testifying as the 65th prosecution witness, said he examined two devices, a Nokia and an Itel, each with SIM cards.
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He revealed that thousands of WhatsApp conversations were retrieved between Mackenzie and members of his flock.
The forensic exercise, carried out on April 13, 2023, with the aid of the Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED), produced a report running into 74,658 pages.
The officer said the bulk of the material centred on fasting, prophecy, the Antichrist, the Beast, the New World Order and repeated references to the number 666.
Kolum told the court that the messages consistently portrayed Shakahola as the new spiritual home.
Mackenzie was quoted as urging his followers to abandon their households and move without delay into the forest, describing the wilderness as the dwelling place of the church.
Records dating as far back as September 2020 showed Mackenzie declaring that his mission had already been fulfilled and that he was waiting there for the Lord.
Subsequent chats in 2022 and 2023 showed members regularly seeking direction on when to relocate.
"Mackenzie directed parents to withdraw children from school. In one exchange, a woman reported her child had suffered alleged spiritual attacks when wearing a school uniform, to which Mackenzie replied that the child should be kept out of school," the witness further testified.
Kolum added that Mackenzie discouraged the use of hospitals, instead sending WhatsApp messages advising mothers not to seek medical care for sick children.
The court also heard that several of his adherents promised to send money for the purchase of land at Shakahola, where they would live and undertake fasting.
In addition to chats, the recovered data contained PDF files, audio sermons and YouTube links. These, the officer explained, carried apocalyptic teachings that Mackenzie circulated after closing his Malindi-based Furunzi GNI Church.
Themes of waiting for the return of Christ and the end of the world in Shakahola were dominant.
Mackenzie and 35 others are charged with cruelty, torture and the denial of education to minors in connection with the massacre.
Principal Magistrate Nelly Chepchirchir adjourned the trial to continue between September 16 and 19, 2025.
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