Shakahola massacre: Judiciary condoles with victims’ families
The judiciary has issued a statement condemning the macabre killings witnessed at Shakahola in Malindi, Kilifi county.
In a statement shared, the judiciary condoled with families of the victims affected and outlined the current status of the case against pastor Paul Mackenzie who is accused of ‘misleading’ his followers to starve to death in order to meet Jesus.
Mackenzie who heads the Good News International Ministries in Malindi hit the headlines after the bodies of his followers were discovered in mass graves.
According to the judiciary, the embattled pastor was first arraigned on March 17, 2017, where he was charged with radicalisation for promoting extreme beliefs and failing to provide children with education contrary to section 76(1)(2) and section 92(a) of the Basic Education Act.
Later in 2019, he was charged alongside a few of his followers for child neglect. He pleaded not guilty.
“The Court ordered that Care and Protection Files be opened for the Children and also a Pre Bail Report be filed. The Court on 19.10.2017 granted the accused conditional cash bail of Kshs.100,000.00 in the alternative Bond of Kshs.500,000.00 with one surety and upon release be reporting to the OCS Malindi each week,” the statement reads in parts.
Within the same year, Mackenzie was charged with three counts; Incitement to disobedience of the law, being in possession and distributing films to the public which had not been examined and classified by the Kenya Film Classification Board and operating a filming studio and producing films without valid filming licence from the Kenya Films Classification Board.
At the time, he pleaded not guilty and was granted a cash bail of Ksh500,0000 and an alternative bond of Ksh1million with one surety.
In March this year, the cleric was summoned in court to answer for the alleged murder of two children whose bodies were discovered buried in a shallow grave after they starved and suffocated.
He was released on a Ksh10,000 bond and ordered to report to the police station when required to.
Mackenzie was rearrested on April 14, 2023, after he surrendered himself to the police.
He was arraigned at Malindi Law Courts on April 17 where custodial order for 14 days was granted to pave room to complete investigations.
Exhumation exercise is currently ongoing in Shakahola. So far 103 bodies have been exhumed from the land supposedly owned by Mackenzie.