Father recalls unimaginable pain after identifying missing daughter in Shakahola case
At a Mombasa court, a Kiambu father described identifying his daughter’s body only by her teeth, as witnesses detailed family losses linked to Pastor Paul Mackenzie’s Shakahola teachings.
A father from Kiambu told a Mombasa court of the unbearable moment he realised the only way he could identify his missing daughter was by recognising her teeth.
His family was among those caught up in the Shakahola tragedy, where hundreds of followers of Pastor Paul Mackenzie’s Good News Church are believed to have died after retreating into the forest in 2023.
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Appearing via video link, Abel Kaire Oyalo struggled to contain his emotions as he recounted how his home life had begun to change long before his daughter disappeared.
He said his wife abruptly abandoned their Kenya Assemblies of God church in Gachie and embraced Mackenzie’s teachings—changes that quickly affected their marriage and parenting.
“What began as shifts in dress and routine soon turned into refusals to take the children to school or hospital,” he said.
Travelled to Shakahola
Then, without warning, she left the family home with all their children and travelled to Shakahola.
When he finally traced her in March 2023, she refused to return with him. According to Oyalo, she accused him of standing in the way of her faith and told him to find another wife before cutting off all contact. He never saw her again.
Two years later, in 2025, government officials informed him that one of his four missing children had been identified through DNA profiling.
He told the court that the moment he saw the body, he recognised his daughter only by her teeth—an admission that drew a heavy silence across the courtroom.
His testimony formed part of a deeply personal set of accounts presented as the Director of Public Prosecutions intensified the case before Justice Diana Kavedza.
Another witness, Julius Mnyambo, described losing both his brother and his nephew to the chain of events surrounding the Shakahola settlement.
He said his brother, Edison Safari Mnyambo, a carpenter from Malindi, had moved his family only to fall ill while in custody.
Edison died at Coast General Hospital, and his body, along with that of one of his children, was later released to the family.
A third witness, Jackline Mumbe Mary, gave insight into how individuals were drawn into Mackenzie’s circle without initially realising where their lives were headed.
She said she relocated to Mombasa to stay with her sister, who gradually introduced her to Mackenzie’s teachings—first through strict instructions about hair plaiting, then through televised sermons.
Mumbe eventually left the movement after internal disagreements, but her sister later vanished and has not been traced.
The hearing continues.
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