Court proceedings at the Shanzu Law Courts have uncovered further details about how Pastor Paul Mackenzie allegedly indoctrinated his followers into joining his cult-like practices.
On Monday, a victim's father testified that his son was introduced to Mackenzie’s Good News International church by a former high school classmate. His son, who was studying electrical engineering at the Technical University of Mombasa, was reportedly pressured into abandoning his education to join Mackenzie in Shakahola.
The father told Principal Magistrate Leah Juma that when he questioned his son’s sudden disinterest in education, his son responded that the world was ending and education was merely an earthly, evil pursuit. He shared that his attempts to reach his son were unsuccessful, only hearing from him occasionally when his son initiated contact.
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It wasn’t until he was informed that his son had been hospitalized in Malindi that he realized the extent of the cult’s influence. At the hospital, he found his once-healthy son, a former rugby player, severely malnourished and barely able to speak. He later learned that followers were encouraged to burn their academic documents, believing that education was evil and had no place in heaven.
Mackenzie, along with 95 co-accused, faces multiple charges, including terrorism, child cruelty, radicalization, murder, and violating the Basic Education Act. These alleged offenses took place from 2020 to 2023. He was arrested in April last year after the initial discovery of bodies in the remote Shakahola forest near Malindi. Following months of searching the area, authorities have uncovered approximately 429 bodies from mass graves.
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