The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on Monday, July 20, presented four additional witnesses in the ongoing manslaughter case against Pastor Paul Mackenzie and his co-accused.
Mackenzie is jointly charged alongside Shallyne Temba, Kahindi Garama, Tom Mkonwe, Julius Luwali and Johnson Richard with 29 counts of manslaughter.
The accused persons are alleged to have jointly caused the deaths of 29 people between January and July 2025 at Kwa Binzaro Village in Chakama Location, Magarini Sub-County, Kilifi County.
Appearing virtually before Senior Principal Magistrate Eric Wambo, prosecution witness Japheth Lennox recounted how his family was first introduced to Pastor Mackenzie's teachings through broadcasts on Times TV while they were living in Migori County.
The witness told the court that the teachings cautioned followers against accepting the 'mark of the beast,' discouraged medical treatment by insisting that illnesses should be treated through prayer, and condemned formal education as part of a corrupt worldly system.
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"He told the court that the sermons warned followers against receiving the "mark of the beast," discouraged them from seeking medical treatment by teaching that illnesses should only be cured through prayer, and portrayed formal education as part of a corrupt worldly system," the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said in a statement.
Lennox further testified that his father, Seth, who was a prison officer, resigned from the Kenya Prisons Service in 2021 after adopting Pastor Mackenzie's teachings and believing that he could not serve both the "beast" and the Lord.
In 2021, his father invited him to move with the family to Shakahola, but he declined because he felt he was still too young.
Lennox later said his parents informed him in March 2025 that they were relocating to Kisii, before he lost contact with his father the following month.
"He further told the court that his father had invited him to relocate to Shakahola with the family, but he declined, stating that he was still too young. In March 2025, while he was in Homa Bay, his parents informed him that they were relocating to Kisii.
"However, when he attempted to contact his father in April 2025, the phone was unreachable," the statement added.
The witness also recounted how he received an anonymous call in June 2025 from a person speaking with a coastal accent, who told him that "they have left us."
Lennox said he understood the message to mean that his parents and siblings had died and has not seen or heard from them since.
"The witness further testified that in June 2025, he received an anonymous phone call from a person with a coastal accent who informed him that, "They have left us," which he understood to mean that his parents and siblings had died. He told the court that he has neither seen nor heard from his family since then," the statement further read.
Lennox later told the court that officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations contacted him and informed him that DNA samples he had provided matched some of the bodies recovered from Shakahola.
This comes months after, Brenda Muhati Mwaura, the 46th prosecution witness, offered a chilling account of life inside the church under Mackenzie’s leadership.
She told the court that her family joined GNI when she was a teenager and that the church operated from two locations Makongeni in Nairobi and Malindi.
Brenda explained that the movement took a darker turn when Mackenzie declared that hospitals and schools were ungodly, urging members to give up their livelihoods and wait for the second coming of Christ.
According to Brenda, the teachings deeply influenced her family, especially her father.
"Her father, she said, reinforced these teachings, forcing her to drop out of school in Form Two. The family later moved to Malindi, where Mackenzie frequently cited this witness as an example of a ‘faithful believer’ who had forsaken education for God," the statement read.
Once in Malindi, Brenda became part of the church’s inner operations.
"At the church, the witness worked as a camera operator for Times TV, GNI’s media wing that produced DVDs of Mackenzie’s apocalyptic sermons. She recounted how several youths, including Sidi Smart and Michael Mweri, were hired as editors after abandoning school," the statement added.
Brenda told the court that she broke away from the church at the age of 18, realizing the manipulation she had endured.
Later, when reports emerged of followers starving in Shakahola Forest, she decided to speak out online, a move that nearly cost her life.
"At 18, she broke away from the church, realizing she had been manipulated. Years later, after learning that followers were starving in the Shakahola Forest, she posted a public warning on Facebook and tagged the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) page, a post that prompted threats from church members," the statement further read.
Brenda told the court that soon after, she began receiving threatening phone calls.
