MOMBASA, Kenya — New accounts of tragedy and indoctrination emerged at the Mombasa High Court on Tuesday as the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) presented 88 postmortem reports in the ongoing murder trial of Pastor Paul Mackenzie and 30 co-accused.
The reports detail how dozens of followers of Mackenzie perished after being subjected to extreme fasting and other religious directives issued by the controversial preacher.
In an emotional testimony, 60-year-old Titus Ngonyo Gandi recounted losing five family members during the Shakahola incident, including his wife, two children — one of whom served as a GSU officer — his grandchild, and his daughter-in-law.
Gandi said the troubling behavior of his wife, Esther Mbila, began in 2019, when she began preaching against formal education and warned neighbors against government employment or acquiring official documents, including birth certificates, identity cards, and academic certificates.
“I have since buried my wife, two children, one grandchild, and my daughter-in-law,” Gandi told the court.
Another witness, 23-year-old Robert Kithi, described fleeing Shakahola in 2023 after being instructed, alongside other followers, to fast in preparation for a prophesied rapture. Kithi said the directive came from Mackenzie, who claimed it was a message “from God.”
Kithi revealed that he had previously attended the Good News International Church in Malindi, which was closed in 2020 after Mackenzie declared the church’s mission “complete.”
The preacher later ordered followers to relocate to Jagwani, Shakahola, to await the coming of the Messiah, promising a rapture three years after 2021, in mid-2023.
Opposed to the starvation orders, Kithi said he escaped, but not before witnessing the deaths of several family members.
While in Shakahola, he was tasked with guarding a dam and recalled burying his two siblings, noting that his mother insisted the children had “gone to the Messiah” and forbade retrieval of their bodies.
DCI officer Paul Oguta testified about the shocking conditions at Shakahola, where several individuals were found starving under a tree.
Oguta participated in 88 postmortem examinations of victims who died at Malindi Mortuary, submitting the reports to the court.
The prosecution also called the Registrar of Companies to testify as part of evidence linking Mackenzie and his co-accused to the deaths of over 191 people in Shakahola Forest.
The trial continues as the ODPP builds its case, presenting evidence aimed at establishing the chain of events and the specific roles of Mackenzie and his associates in the tragic deaths.
