MOMBASA, Kenya — The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has closed its second case against controversial preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and 96 co-accused persons in the Shakahola trial, marking a major milestone in efforts to secure accountability for one of Kenya’s deadliest tragedies.
In a statement shared on X, the DPP said it had formally closed the prosecution case on radicalisation and organised crime charges before the Shanzu Law Courts.
The case exposed what prosecutors described as a calculated, long-running scheme of religious indoctrination that led to mass deaths in Shakahola forest.
This is the second case against Mackenzie that the DPP has concluded. A separate case involving crimes against children ended in September 2025. Two other cases, relating to murder and manslaughter, remain ongoing before courts in Mombasa.
The radicalisation case began on July 8, 2024. Prosecutors called 96 witnesses and produced nearly 500 exhibits. Witnesses included survivors, medical experts, forensic specialists, and investigators.
The prosecution told the court that the evidence showed the deaths were neither accidental nor voluntary, but the result of systematic indoctrination, isolation, and control.
Principal Magistrate Leah Juma closed the prosecution case after hearing final testimonies from Chief Inspectors Raphael Wanjohi and Peter Mwangi, Inspector Onyango Owade, and Detective Constable Alfred Mwatika, who led investigations into the Shakahola atrocities.
Investigators testified that Mackenzie used the Good News International (GNI) Church to radicalise followers over more than a decade through distorted biblical teachings.
Chief Inspector Wanjohi told the court that Mackenzie aggressively used media platforms, including Times Television, which was shut down in 2019, YouTube channels, seminars, crusades, and WhatsApp groups to spread his ideology and recruit followers.
According to the prosecution, indoctrination intensified between 2020 and 2023. Followers were instructed to cut ties with society, abandon education, reject healthcare, and withdraw from state institutions. Parents were persuaded to remove children from school and relocate to Shakahola under false pretences.
Evidence presented showed that Mackenzie acquired about 480 acres of land in Shakahola. He subdivided it into villages with biblical names and imposed a strict command structure. Guards, overseers, grave diggers, and cooks operated under his direct authority.
Investigators confirmed that 426 bodies were exhumed from the forest. They told the court the actual death toll could be higher. Many of the victims were children. Medical and forensic evidence showed starvation as the primary cause of death.
Prosecutors said fasting began as voluntary but later became enforced, with women and children targeted first.
Inspector Owade testified that 28 rescued minors described mental torture and coercion to fast to death. Doctors and forensic pathologists corroborated the accounts. DNA evidence presented by Chief Inspector Mwangi linked several accused persons to deceased children as parents or close relatives.
Detective Constable Mwatika described GNI as an organised criminal network. He said it facilitated extremist ideology and acts falling within terrorism laws. Investigators told the court that followers quit jobs, sold property, and abandoned livelihoods under Mackenzie’s influence.
The GNI Church, which operated at least 25 branches across the country, was gazetted as a criminal organisation in January 2024. Prosecutors argue that Mackenzie and his associates used their structure to commit offences including radicalisation, murder, manslaughter, torture, and cruelty to children.
With the prosecution’s case now closed, the court will hear submissions before deciding whether Mackenzie and his 96 co-accused have a case to answer. The ruling will determine the next phase in one of Kenya’s most closely watched criminal trials.
