The prosecution formally closed the Prosecution case against Shakahola massacre mastermind Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and 96 co-accused persons, bringing to a close a painstaking and evidence-heavy trial phase that laid bare an elaborate, long-running scheme of religious radicalization that culminated in one of Kenya’s gravest tragedies.
The accused are facing Radicalization and Organized Crime related charges at the Shanzu Law Courts.
This is the second case involving the controversial preacher that the DPP has concluded.
The other, involving crimes against children, ended in September 2025.
Two other cases, involving charges related to murder and manslaughter are ongoing in Mombasa.
Today, in a Prosecution-led case that began on of July 8, 2024, the prosecution marshaled 96 witnesses, including survivors, medical experts, forensic specialists and investigators, and produced close to 500 exhibits.
The evidence, prosecutors told court, demonstrates beyond doubt that the deaths at Shakahola were neither accidental nor voluntary, but the result of a carefully orchestrated campaign of indoctrination, isolation and control.
Principal magistrate Leah Juma closed the prosecution case after hearing final testimonies from key investigators including Chief Inspectors Raphael Wanjohi and Peter Mwangi, Inspector Onyango Owade and Detective Constable Alfred Mwatika, who jointly investigated the atrocities committed in Shakahola forest.
The investigators told the court that Mackenzie used the Good News International (GNI) Church as a vehicle to radicalise followers through distorted biblical teachings over more than a decade. Chief Inspector Wanjohi testified that Mackenzie aggressively leveraged media platforms, including Times Television, shut down in 2019 for airing extremist content, YouTube channels, seminars, crusades and WhatsApp groups to spread his ideology and recruit followers.
Prosecution told court the indoctrination intensified between 2020 and 2023, with followers instructed to sever 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 showed that Mackenzie acquired 480 acres of land in Shakahola, subdividing it into villages with biblical names and imposing a rigid command structure enforced by guards, overseers, grave diggers and cooks, all under his direct authority.
Investigators confirmed that 426 bodies were exhumed from the forest, with the actual death toll believed to be higher, many of them children.
Medical and forensic evidence presented by Prosecution established that starvation, initially voluntary but later enforced, was the primary cause of death, with women and children targeted first.
Inspector Owade told the court that 28 rescued minors described mental torture and coercion to fast to death, testimony corroborated by doctors and forensic pathologists.
DNA evidence, presented by Chief Inspector Mwangi, linked many accused persons to deceased children as parents or close relatives, underscoring the depth of manipulation involved.
Detective Mwatika summarized Prosecution’s case on radicalization, describing GNI as an organized criminal network that facilitated extremist ideology and acts falling within the scope of terrorism laws. Investigators said followers quit jobs, sold property and abandoned livelihoods under Mackenzie’s influence.
The GNI Church, which operated at least 25 branches nationwide, was gazetted as a criminal organisation in January 2024. Prosecutors maintain that Mackenzie and his associates used its structure to commit offences including radicalisation, murder, manslaughter, torture and cruelty to children.
With the prosecution case now closed in this matter, the court will hear closing submissions before determining whether Mackenzie and his 96 co-accused have a case to answer, a critical next step in the prosecution’s pursuit of accountability for the Shakahola atrocities.
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