By KPC Reporter
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has closed the last of four criminal cases arising from the Shakahola massacre.
This brings to a close the prosecution’s evidence against Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and 94 co-accused persons charged with 238 counts of manslaughter.
The case concluded shortly after the final prosecution witness, Chief Inspector Raphael Wanjohi, laid bare chilling details of how Mackenzie exercised near-total control over his followers.
This culminated in the deaths of 429 people inside the remote Shakahola Forest.
Testifying before Chief Magistrate Alex Ithuku, Wanjohi told the court that Mackenzie and his followers entered into what investigators described as a shared suicide pact, driven by an apocalyptic belief that they would meet Jesus before the end of December 2020.
“The suspects had a mutual agreement and shared intention, both individually and collectively, for a suicide pact,” Wanjohi testified.
“They had a common purpose to commit acts of manslaughter by overseeing the deaths of their children through enforced fasting.”
According to the investigator, Mackenzie instructed followers to hasten their deaths by starving themselves, claiming this would prepare them spiritually to meet Jesus upon His alleged return.
Those who resisted the deadly doctrine were forced to flee the settlement, underscoring the extreme indoctrination and coercion within the group.
“They had a specific intent to fast to death to meet Jesus and possessed knowledge of committing an unlawful act, as evidenced by the way graves were concealed,” Wanjohi added.
The court heard that Mackenzie and his 94 co-accused bore the greatest responsibility for the manslaughter of 238 identified victims, many of them children.
Investigators detailed how the cult established its settlement several kilometers deep inside the forest to evade authorities.
Wanjohi told the court that the site was 14 kilometers from the nearest school, 35 kilometers from Lango Baya Police Station, and 32 kilometers from the closest chief’s camp—distances that severely hampered early detection.
Within this remote enclave, Mackenzie’s armed militia enforced strict compliance with fasting orders, monitored movement, and guarded women and children as starvation intensified.
Call data analysis revealed constant communication between Mackenzie and his security team, which investigators say was used to coordinate surveillance and control during the fasting period.
On the first day of exhumation, approximately 25 kilometers inside the forest, investigators uncovered 65 graves, 14 of which contained multiple bodies.
That day alone, 17 bodies were exhumed, documented, placed in labeled body bags, and transferred to Malindi Sub-County Hospital mortuary.
“The graves were shallow, and some bodies were wrapped in bed sheets or lesos tied with knots before burial,” Wanjohi told the court.
“In some instances, bodies were moved from one grave to another, likely to avoid detection.”
Fast-growing crops had been planted over mass graves, many of which were deliberately flattened to conceal evidence.
Children and adults were often buried together, and investigators found that only two burial permits had been obtained, far below what the law requires.
Months later, homicide detectives worked alongside pathologists to conduct post-mortems in four phases on all 429 bodies recovered.
Starvation emerged as the leading cause of death, followed by injuries, while some cases could not be conclusively determined due to advanced decomposition.
DNA testing was used to identify victims and link them to surviving relatives.
Investigators also revealed that followers abandoned jobs, sold property, withdrew children from school, and destroyed identity documents before relocating to Shakahola.
To maintain secrecy, Mackenzie and his lieutenants developed coded language: “Wateule” for members, “Mataifa” for outsiders, “Harusi” for burial, “Kunyakuliwa” for rapture, and “Kanisa Jagwani” to refer to Shakahola itself.
Searches at Mackenzie’s premises recovered DVDs, religious texts, files, and registers containing radical end-times teachings, which prosecutors say formed the ideological backbone of the cult.
The court is expected to set timelines for the defence case in one of Kenya’s most harrowing criminal trials in recent history.