The Mombasa High Court heard harrowing testimonies from three witnesses in the murder trial of controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie and 29 of his co-accused, charged over the deaths of hundreds of followers in the Shakahola forest, Kilifi County.
Testifying before Lady Justice Diana Kadveza, the witnesses under the witness protection agency, among them minors rescued from the forest, gave graphic accounts of starvation, beatings, and religious indoctrination that, they said, claimed the lives of many.
One witness testified that followers would gather under ‘Mitola trees’, specific trees in the forest, where Mackenzie, commonly referred to as “Mtumishi”, conducted teachings.
According to the testimony, Mackenzie instructed his followers to “fast until death”, starting with children, then women, then men, and lastly himself.
He also taught that “Jesus was not coming, but rather they were to go to Jesus through fasting to death.
Those who resisted the fasting order, the court heard, were subjected to beatings.
“If anyone refused, they were beaten,” the witness said.
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