A senior Scene-of-Crime Investigating Officer testified before the Mombasa High Court, revealing that four of the 15 victims rescued from Shakahola died while being transported to Malindi Hospital for treatment.
Sergeant Benson Ingosi, who was testifying in the ongoing murder trial of Pastor Paul Mackenzie and 30 others, shared details of his involvement in the investigation.
He told court that on 13th April 2023, he accompanied officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to the Shakahola area in Chakama Location.
They had been tasked with investigating reports that followers of Mackenzie’s Good News International Ministries were fasting to death under the pastor’s teachings.
Ingosi narrated how upon their arrival, they searched the expansive forest, which was dotted with scattered homesteads.
During the search, they discovered victims who had been starved to death and hidden in shallow graves, some within fasting bays constructed with thorny branches.
“In the course of our search, we found several victims inside fasting bays, which were enclosed with thorny branches,” Ingosi said, adding that many of those who perished had been secretly buried in the forest.
On April 18, 2025, he was called to a section of the forest near Langobaya where two decomposing bodies had been discovered by members of the public.
He documented the scene and added that eleven days later, while stationed in Shakahola, he was called to another site where a decomposing female body was found. He processed the scene and took photographs.
The fifth witness, George Okaka, also took the stand and revealed the heartbreaking details of his family’s involvement with Mackenzie’s church.
In October 2025, he buried his wife and four children, with two of his children still missing after they joined Mackenzie’s church in 2019.
Okaka recounted how his wife, along with their children, had traveled to Shakahola in September 2022 after she had burned their children’s books and identification documents.
He recalled receiving a phone call from his wife in 2023, during which she requested Sh6,000.
Okaka managed to raise the money with the help of his father-in-law, who sold a cow. However, all attempts to contact his wife afterwards were unsuccessful.
Prosecution also introduced a child psychologist, Dr. Florence Mueni, who provided reports compiled by a team of six psychologists.
The reports were based on interviews with 26 children who had been rescued from Shakahola.
These psychological assessments revealed the trauma endured by the young survivors.
So far, Prosecution has presented 70 witnesses in the case, which centers around the deaths of 191 individuals, allegedly linked to the teachings of Pastor Paul Mackenzie and his followers at Good News International Ministries.
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