Paul Mackenzie, a controversial preacher, was sentenced to a year in prison for running a movie studio and making movies without a proper license.

Malindi Senior Resident Magistrate Olga Onalo also gave him a further six months in prison for displaying the movies to the general public on Times TV without a license.  

Although Mackenzie's sentences will run concurrently, she has 14 days to file an appeal.


This happened after Mackenzie's case's probation officer suggested that she not be allowed to pay a fine.

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"In respect to count two, I hereby sentence the accused person to twelve months imprisonment while in respect to count three, the accused person's explanation of not knowing the need for a license from the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) having obtained a broadcasting one is a reasonable though not entirely acceptable as ignorance of the law is no defense hence the resulting conviction and in light of the same, I sentence the accused to six months imprisonment," said Onalo.

Mackenzie's offenses carry a maximum one-year jail sentence and a maximum Ksh. 100,000 alternatives fine.


The report presented in court resulted from a court order that gave the probation office the task of assembling a report to inform Mackenzie's sentence in a 2019 legal proceeding involving the operation of a recording and TV studio without a current KFCB license.

According to Mackenzie's probation report from Mombasa Nick Makuu, the Assistant Director of Probation, he was found guilty and fined for a similar offense in criminal case no. 182 of 2017. He was recently found not guilty in CR 790/17 of charges about radicalization and running an unregistered school, for which the ODPP has filed an appeal beyond the deadline.