Thursday, October 30, 2025 - A police witness has told the court that controversial preacher pastor, Paul Mackenzie, secretly ate in police custody while his followers continued fasting, believing it would help them evade criminal charges.
Testifying before Principal Magistrate Leah Juma, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Noor Abdi, the former Officer Commanding Malindi Police Station, narrated that Mackenzie and several co-accused were detained at the station between June 6th and June 14th, 2023.
During this period, 15 of the suspects reportedly refused to
eat for eight consecutive days, insisting that they were fasting for divine
intervention in their legal troubles.
“Your honour, we separated Mackenzie from the rest of the
suspects, and our informer reported that Mackenzie ate while in the cell but
did it secretly, so that his followers would not notice,” Abdi testified.
He added that the suspects became extremely weak during the
hunger strike and declined medical assistance when taken to the hospital,
insisting that their fasting was spiritual.
The officer also produced several communication signals sent
to senior police commanders reporting the mass refusal of food by the detained
Shakahola cult followers.
In addition to Abdi’s testimony, the Director of Public
Prosecutions (DPP) presented Alex Tsofia, an excavator operator hired to
construct a dam in Shakahola, Kilifi County.
Tsofia told the court that he had been contracted by
Mackenzie and worked at the site for two weeks.
Prosecution also called Engineer Fredrick Ako from the
National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority,who assessed the dam’s capacity
and purpose.
His report described the structure not as an irrigation dam,
but as a water harvesting pan with a storage capacity of 18,851.6 cubic metres,
enough to supply water to 218 households, or approximately 1,090 people,
throughout the year.
A subsequent inspection by the National Water Authority
confirmed that there was no evidence of irrigation
or livestock use, indicating that the excavation was solely a water catchment
project.
The report, however, estimated that the dam could supply up
to 16,498 people for three months depending on the amount of rainfall and
consumption levels.
The prosecution also produced a poignant testimony from Mr.
Stephen Mwiti, whose personal life was shattered after his wife became a
follower of Mackenzie.
Mwiti recounted how his wife’s obsession with the pastor’s
sermons strained their marriage.
“I sometimes walked around with the TV remote in my pocket
to stop her from watching Mackenzie’s preaching, but it didn’t help,” he told
the court.
He said his wife eventually fled their home with their five
children while pregnant with their sixth, joining the Shakahola community.
“When I heard some people had been rescued from Shakahola, I
prayed I would reunite with my family. But I was devastated when I learned that
my wife and all six children, including a one-month-old baby, had disappeared,”
Mwiti said emotionally.
A DNA test later confirmed that one of the rescued children
was his.
When questioned by Mackenzie’s lawyer on whether he would
consider reconciling with his wife, Mwiti said that he
had left the matter to the court and only sought justice.
Pastor Mackenzie and 92 co-accused are facing multiple
charges at the Shanzu Law Courts under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the
Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
The case, which has gripped national attention, continues to expose harrowing details about the alleged cult activities in Shakahola, where hundreds of followers are believed to have died through starvation and indoctrination.
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