Heartbreaking testimonies continued Thursday before the Mombasa High Court in the ongoing murder trial against Pastor Paul Mackenzie and 30 co-accused, as more parents and relatives narrated how their children were lured to Shakahola and later died or went missing as a result of the controversial preacher’s teachings.
The 57th prosecution witness, Benson Mutimba, a resident of Webuye, told the court that two of his children, aged 27 and 16, abandoned school after being convinced that education was evil.
Mutimba stated that his eldest son, a student at Kibabii University, claimed Pastor Mackenzie was a “true man of God” and persuaded him to sell all his property and relocate to Shakahola, promising that they would become rich.
“He told me Pastor Mackenzie had even promised him a helicopter if he continued following his teachings,” Mutimba testified.
When his children disappeared, he reported the matter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), who traced one of their mobile phones to Malindi, near Mackenzie’s area of operation.
Safaricom records later revealed that his son sent Sh200 to Mackenzie’s phone number upon reaching Ukunda in Mombasa County.
The 58th prosecution witness, Jesca Safari Kone, the second-born child in a family of nine, recounted how she lost contact with her sisters after they travelled to Shakahola.
She told the court that when she was unable to reach their sister on the phone, she decided to travel to Furunzi, where they lived, but missed them.
She later learned that they had traveled to Shakahola, where three of her sisters and five of their children reportedly died.
Another parent, Esther Anyango, the 59th witness, recounted that one of her eight children got married and moved from Likoni to Shakahola.
She later received a call from her daughter’s husband, who informed her that her daughter had died while giving birth. Since then, she has neither seen her daughter nor her son-in-law nor her two grandchildren, who remain missing to date.
The 60th witness, Roseline Anivisa Asena, from Embakasi South, told the court that her brother joined Mackenzie’s church and began enforcing extreme teachings, including withdrawing his children from school and refusing medical treatment.
Roseline stated that her brother’s wife complained about the new church doctrines and eventually left the marriage.
“My brother became harsh and burned his children’s school report cards and birth certificates,” she told the court.
She only realized her brother had gone to Shakahola after seeing him on television. Later, she came across footage showing her sister-in-law being rescued from the forest, emaciated and weak.
Children rescued and placed at Mayungu Children’s Home told her that three of her brother’s children had died and were buried in Chakama.
“One child died and was buried at night in Shakahola,” she said.
According to the children, by the time they left Shakahola, one girl was alive but was unable to talk or walk.”
The 61st prosecution witness, Florence Mwahita Mwaigo, said her son, Alfonce Chomba, one of the accused , was married to Gloria Riziki. Florence told the court that her daughter-in-law and one of her grandchildren, Nathan Chomba, died in Shakahola.
She testified that his son discouraged education and medication and believed that these were against their faith.
More witnesses are expected to testify as the prosecution builds its case against Mackenzie and his co-accused over the deaths of 191 people in the Shakahola forest.
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