Witness recounts how Mackenzie lured followers to Shakahola, away from public scrutiny
The witness said he was given a motorcycle which he used to transport bodies to their mass burial sites.
A witness in the ongoing manslaughter case against cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 94 others has given a chilling testimony about the tragic loss of his wife and one-year-old child in the Shakahola Forest.
Speaking under witness protection at the Mombasa Law Courts, the witness recounted the horrors he endured and how Mackenzie's teachings led to the deaths of his loved ones.
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The witness, who previously served as a pianist at the Good News International Church in Furunzi, revealed that he was part of Mackenzie's congregation from 2007 to 2019 when the church was shut down and its followers urged to relocate to Shakahola.
According to his testimony, Mackenzie claimed divine instruction to close the church and establish a secluded worship community away from government, education and materialism, which he claimed were distractions from God's ordained plan.
The witness further revealed that Mackenzie's teachings became more extreme during the Covid-19 pandemic as he used the lockdown restrictions to convince his followers that the world was ending and that they needed to withdraw from society.
Consequently, those who followed him to Shakahola were subjected to strict religious doctrines, including severe fasting as a way to draw closer to God.
The witness said his child died due to the forced fasting under Mackenzie's directive, recalling how everybody including the children was being starved of water and food while being asked to appear before God in prayer.
Under these conditions, his wife also passed away, with the bodies of the dead being buried in the forest under Mackenzie's supervision.
Beyond being a congregant, the witness also said that he was assigned duties in Shakahola as a security guard, disclosing that he was given a motorcycle which he used to transport the dead bodies to their mass burial sites.
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