NAIROBI, Kenya – A prisoner serving a 50-year sentence at Shimo La Tewa Maximum Security Prison has told the Mombasa High Court that he retained SIM cards while behind bars, as prosecutors presented evidence linking one of his registered numbers to a mobile phone associated with preacher Paul Mackenzie.
Kalume Kitsao Rimba, 41, testified during the ongoing Kwa Binzaro murder trial involving Mackenzie and seven co-accused persons over the deaths of people whose remains were recovered from shallow graves in Kilifi County.
The court heard that a Safaricom SIM card registered in Rimba’s name had been used in a phone linked to Mackenzie, who is also being held at Shimo La Tewa prison.
Rimba denied having any direct association with Mackenzie, saying he only knew the preacher through media reports about the Shakahola deaths.
He also denied using SIM cards to make or receive calls or conduct mobile money transactions while in prison.
Witness Says He Registered Five SIM Cards for Mobile Loans
Led in his testimony by Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Frankline Sirima, Rimba told the court that he had registered five Safaricom numbers in his name to build his M-Shwari savings profile and access mobile loans.
He maintained that the registrations were legitimate.
Rimba is serving a 50-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to drug trafficking in 2024.
He told the court that prison officers searched his cell on September 20, 2025, and recovered two Bibles containing handwritten papers bearing names and telephone contacts.
According to his testimony, officers later informed him that one of his SIM cards had been used to transfer money to Mackenzie, who was being held in the same prison.
A further search the following day led to the recovery of two SIM cards, which Rimba said he had kept since his arrest in March 2024.
Although he denied personally using the cards while incarcerated, he disclosed that he had occasionally lent one to a fellow inmate, Charles Kalume.
Rimba said Kalume would borrow money from him and use the SIM card to make telephone calls. He added that the inmate also borrowed mobile phone handsets from other prisoners.
The court has yet to determine the significance of the SIM card evidence in the case against Mackenzie and his co-accused.
Prison Searches Uncovered Phones and SIM Cards
The court also heard testimony from prison officers James Mnjala and Sergeant Stanislous Bongo Chikuta concerning searches conducted at Shimo La Tewa Maximum Security Prison.
Mnjala told the court that officers carried out surprise searches targeting inmates, including suspects facing charges linked to the Shakahola deaths, after receiving intelligence that prohibited items were being kept inside cells.
The searches resulted in the recovery of plastic containers, boxes, nails, a mobile phone and ropes from different cells. Another officer recovered a separate Itel handset during the operation.
Chikuta, the 50th prosecution witness, testified that impromptu searches conducted on August 30 and September 19, 2025, led to the recovery of mobile phones and SIM cards from inmates.
He further told the court that on September 20, 2025, he witnessed Directorate of Criminal Investigations officers search Mackenzie’s cell.
The officers recovered a notebook, handwritten notes and a Bible, according to his testimony.
Chikuta said the notebook contained telephone numbers and identification details recorded under the name of prosecution witness Emily Achieng, who testified virtually from Kisumu.
Possession of unauthorised mobile phones and SIM cards is prohibited under prison regulations, making the recovery of the items a key part of the prosecution’s evidence concerning communications allegedly conducted from inside the facility.
Prosecution Alleges Mackenzie Used Numbers Registered to Other People
Prosecutors told the court that Mackenzie allegedly used mobile numbers registered in other people’s names to communicate with his co-accused.
The prosecution alleges that the communications were used to instruct associates to intensify doomsday preaching and encourage followers at Kwa Binzaro to fast, with the conduct allegedly contributing to deaths at the settlement.
These claims form part of the prosecution’s case and remain subject to determination by the court.
The Kwa Binzaro case concerns the deaths of people whose remains were recovered from shallow graves in Kilifi County. Authorities have reported exhuming 28 bodies from the site.
Mackenzie was recently convicted alongside 28 co-accused persons in a separate case connected to the Shakahola massacre, in which 191 people, including 190 children, died.
The Kwa Binzaro proceedings are separate from that case and concern allegations that must be established through the evidence presented at trial.
The hearing before Lady Justice Wendy Kagendo is ongoing, with the prosecution continuing to call witnesses and present evidence concerning the alleged communications, prison searches and activities linked to the Kwa Binzaro deaths.
