A State witness yesterday broke down while testifying against suspected Shakahola starvation cult leader, Paul Mackenzie.

The witness, whose name cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, could not hold back tears as he narrated how his brother’s six children starved to death in Shakahola Forest.

The Shanzu Senior Principal Magistrate Leah Juma, was forced to temporarily adjourn the hearing when the witness, a senior consultant surgeon, started to weep.

Calmed down

The hearings only resumed after the witness calmed down.

In his sworn statement, the witness recounted how, sometime in 2018, he noticed his younger brother, Evans Kolombe Sirya, and his wife, Mbodze Mwatsuma, had withdrawn their children, Brenda Jefwa and Brian Jefwa, from St Andrew Primary School in Malindi. Upon inquiring, Sirya told him that education was not part of God’s plan.

“Shocked by my younger brother’s response, I convened a family meeting in our parents’ home which was attended by both my parents and all my siblings including my brother together with his wife and the two children. 

During the said meeting, he reiterated that education was ungodly and he would not allow his children to attend school. His wife further told the meeting that if her husband ever decided to return their children to school, then he would be the one to wake up every morning to prepare them for school,” he informed the court.   

The witness revealed that the couple, ardent followers of Pastor Mackenzie at Furunzi Church in Malindi, relocated to the Shakahola Forest in early 2020 after Mackenzie closed his churches. There, they reportedly had four more children.

In March 2023, the witness heard on a local radio station that Mackenzie’s followers were being forced to fast to death in order to ascend to heaven. 

He learned that Sirya’s two children had died of starvation and their bodies buried in the forest.

Accompanied by a former General Service Unit (GSU) officer familiar with the area, the witness ventured into the forest to verify the tragic news. 

The witness told the court that he later ran into trouble with armed guards who assaulted them and arrested the former GSU officer who was later taken to Lango Baya Police Station.

On April 14, last year, the witness received a call from Malindi Sub-County Criminal Investigations Officer, a Kamau, requesting ambulance services for emaciated followers of Pastor Mackenzie.