Shakahola cult: How Mackenzie forged documents to register Good News Church
The prosecution presented five witnesses before the Shanzu Law Courts in the ongoing trial involving Mackenzie and 95 co-accused persons, who face charges connected to mass deaths in Shakahola Forest, Kilifi County.
Fresh revelations have emerged in the ongoing Shakahola massacre trial, with Shanzu court being told that controversial preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie allegedly forged key documents to register his religious organisation, Good News International Church.
The claims were made as prosecutors presented their latest evidence in the terrorism case linked to one of Kenya’s worst cult-related tragedies.
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The prosecution presented five witnesses before the Shanzu Law Courts in the ongoing trial involving Mackenzie and 95 co-accused persons, who face charges connected to mass deaths in Shakahola Forest, Kilifi County.
The witnesses including former prison officers, a government chemist, two police officers and a civilian offered detailed testimony portraying a network of forgery, radical indoctrination, and deceit.
Malindi resident Sebastian Namuye testified that his signature had been forged on registration papers listing him as the treasurer of Good News International Church without his consent.
Another witness, Shadrack Musau Mutiso, a former prison warden, told the court that Mackenzie also forged his details including his signature and postal address to facilitate the registration of Good News Kenya Ltd.
Mutiso added that his only interaction with Mackenzie was a single visit to the church’s Ruiru branch when he accompanied a friend, insisting he had never engaged in any business dealings with the preacher.
He further revealed that he did not know the advocate who allegedly commissioned the falsified documents.
In another testimony, Benson Omar Mutimba from Webuye described how his children were indoctrinated by Mackenzie’s teachings, leading them to abandon their education and travel to Shakahola.
He recounted that when his 27-year-old and 16-year-old children went missing, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations traced one of their phones to Malindi, near Mackenzie’s residence.
Mutimba said his eldest son later revealed that Mackenzie had promised him a helicopter if he remained loyal to his teachings. Safaricom records produced in court showed that the young man transferred Sh200 to Mackenzie’s mobile phone while in Ukunda, Mombasa County.
Police constable Tony Manjani and officer Gilbert Kiprop also gave evidence, explaining how they arrested individuals fleeing the Shakahola forest who were suspected of involvement in killings.
Kiprop told the court that a search of Mackenzie’s nearby residence uncovered a bag containing personal effects, religious literature discouraging formal education and medical treatment, as well as CDs, DVDs, and pamphlets with end-times messages.
Government chemist David Ngumbao testified that he received post-mortem and soil samples from the mass graves in Shakahola for toxicological testing. He examined extracts from 190 bodies and 301 soil samples, analysing 10 per cent of each as per standard procedures.
Ngumbao reported that no toxic substances were detected in any of the samples. He explained that had any tested positive, the laboratory would have been required to analyse the remaining samples.
The terrorism-related case against Mackenzie and his co-accused continues, with prosecutors seeking to prove that the cult-like activities of Good News International Church led to the deaths of hundreds of followers in one of Kenya’s most shocking tragedies.
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