Prosecutors have revealed chilling details about how Paul Ntheng’e Mackenzie’s alleged “ruthless and efficient” criminal enterprise led to the massacre of about 500 people in Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County.

Senior Principal Magistrate Leah Juma heard that Mackenzie’s militia-like group was a meticulously organised entity masquerading as a church.

Under Mackenzie’s leadership, prosecutors allege, the group orchestrated systematic killings supported by a complex governance system with its own communication and transportation networks and security measures to enforce his draconian directives.

90 witnesses

Prosecutors said they will call 90 witnesses to paint a picture of the bloodbath that occurred in the secluded forest.

The evidence will include electronic and digital proof, cybercrime reports and expert opinions to demonstrate the physical and emotional abuses driven by the group’s extremist ideology, said Senior Assistant DPP Jami Yamina.

Mackenzie and his deputy, Smart Deri Mwakalama, were allegedly the masterminds behind the slaughter of vulnerable women and children.

‘Iron-fisted control’

The witnesses, many of whom are under protection due to their vulnerability, will recount how the accused cult leader wielded iron-fisted control over the group’s activities.

“Throughout the presentation of evidence, witnesses will recount incidents that establish facts which are explanatory, introductory, indicative of common intention or motive, or demonstrate a pattern relevant to the charges,” prosecutors said.

The testimony will reveal how followers embraced a deadly ideology promising an after-life of bliss through actions now classified as murder or manslaughter, the court heard.

Prosecutors petitioned for a visit to Shakahola or for the court to accept scientific reports reconstructing crime scenes.

The prosecution team is led by Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Peter Kiprop and comprises Yamina, Senior Principal Prosecution Counsel Victor Owiti and Anthony Musyoka and Senior Prosecution Counsel Peris Ogega.

Extremist ideology

They argue that the evidence will expose a series of events and transactions orchestrated by the accused to commit numerous crimes against surviving minors. The evidence will highlight the extremist ideology promoted by the accused, they said.

Mackenzie and 94 others face charges of engaging in organised criminal activity, radicalisation, facilitating terrorism, and possessing materials for committing terrorist acts under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2012.

‘Terrorist acts’

The charges allege that between 2020 and 2023, Mackenzie and his followers, members of the Good News International Ministries, conducted organised criminal activities in Shakahola Forest, resulting in the deaths of 429 followers.

They are accused of promoting an extreme belief system leading to ideologically driven violence, specifically fasting to death, and facilitating terrorist acts by transporting followers between Shakahola Forest and Malindi town.

Pamphlets

Additionally, Mackenzie and two others are charged with possessing CDs, DVDs, books, and pamphlets intended to instigate terrorism by endangering the lives of their followers.

Prosecutors assert that their case is supported by compelling evidence, aiming to convict and sentence all 95 accused persons for their roles in the Shakahola massacre.

The suspected cult leader was arrested in April 2023 after the discovery of dozens of bodies in mass graves in Shakahola. Some of the people were said to have starved to death.

By the time he was formally charged on January 16, the bodies of 429 people, including children, had been exhumed in the forest near Malindi.