Followers of preacher Paul Mackenzie were sharply divided during a 2022 meeting in the Shakahola forest, where the doomsday evangelist declared the start of a compulsory mass fast, according to witnesses.
A Mombasa court on Monday heard that what was intended to be a spiritual directive from loyal followers quickly turned into a moment of reckoning, creating a major rift within Mackenzie’s congregation.
A 14-year-old witness told the court that the announcement triggered mixed reactions among the hundreds who had gathered, shattering the once-united spiritual family in the wilderness.
The group that resisted the fasting order began plotting how to return to “Babel,” a term used by Mackenzie’s followers to refer to any place outside the forest and to those not associated with the Good News International (GNI) church.
“When Mackenzie made that announcement, some believers erupted in applause and ululations in approval, while others murmured in disapproval,” the protected witness told Chief Magistrate Alex Ithuku.
The court heard that those who rejected the directive eventually left the forest, revealing early signs of internal dissent within Mackenzie’s movement before the deadly consequences of the fast later became public.
Asked how he knew that the group had rejected the fasting order, the witness said their disapproval was evident through murmuring, frowning, and expressions of anger. He added that his mother, whom he has not seen since he escaped the forest, was among those who celebrated the order and that he saw her clapping and ululating.
Bodies exhumed at Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County are loaded into a police van in this past photo.
Photo credit: FileI Nation Media Group
During the tense meeting, the court was told, Mackenzie rebuked his followers for not taking the fast seriously, warning that time was running out.
“Pastor Mackenzie told us we were getting late. Jesus was waiting for us, and we needed to speed up the fasting in order to see Him as soon as possible. There were so many of us in that meeting,” the witness testified, while being guided by State prosecutors.
He said that following the declaration, those who took the message seriously began fasting in earnest, while those who had murmured began leaving the forest, one after another.
The court heard that while fasting was optional during the initial meetings, it later became mandatory. One of Mackenzie’s close associates, identified by the witness in court, allegedly enforced the preacher’s message, warning that the directive had come from Jesus.
“Those who took Mackenzie’s declaration seriously are not here today, they are dead,” the boy said.
He told the court that after the fast became compulsory, parents began forcing their children to starve. He recalled fasting for four days until the hunger became unbearable, forcing him to escape from their home to steal food from a neighbour’s house.
The witness remembered the incident vividly, particularly because of the brutal beating he received after being caught.
“I was beaten like a dog. Mackenzie, Smart Mwakalama, and three others beat me up until I was injured,” he said.
He also recalled attending another meeting that turned out to be a burial ceremony for one of the preacher’s followers. Mackenzie presided over the burial, which the witness said lacked the emotional depth normally associated with funerals.
He testified that during the ceremony, Mackenzie preached as the body of a female member, wrapped in white cloth, was brought from a nearby house and laid in a shallow grave.
“Some people were clapping and calling the dead woman brave, saying she had kept the faith and finished the race.
Others looked very sad. I was disturbed because the woman had died very thin,” the witness said.
In this picture taken on March 28, 2024, grave diggers at work in preparations for the burial of four members of one family whose bodies were exhumed in Shakahola Forest.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
The followers dispersed after Mackenzie urged them to hasten their fasting, insisting that “time was of the essence”. “He told us that those who had not begun fasting should do so quickly, because the door to the ark was about to be closed,” he said.
According to the witness, meetings were held once or twice a month, during which Mackenzie linked the fast to biblical prophecies and global events such as the war in Ukraine. He claimed Mackenzie told his congregation that his instructions had come directly from Jesus.
The witness said he managed to escape the forest after recovering from injuries sustained when Mackenzie and his team beat him for stealing and eating food. “I have never seen my mother since I escaped the forest,” he added.
Upon cross-examination by Mackenzie’s lawyer, Lawrence Obonyo, the witness admitted to stealing electronics, including a solar panel, from his neighbours.
“I was beaten for stealing electronics, but Mackenzie intervened and pleaded with the others to stop beating me. I used to steal food and electronics, but I am now reformed,” he told the court.
The teenager dropped out of school in Nairobi in 2019 while in Grade Three and later relocated with his family to Malindi before settling in the forest. The court heard that a pastor who had previously preached alongside Mackenzie at the GNI branch in Nairobi assisted in buying bus tickets to facilitate the family’s relocation to Malindi.
A second 14-year-old witness affirmed the earlier testimony, adding that Mackenzie had issued a strict directive that there was to be no sharing of food in the forest.
“Mackenzie made it clear during a meeting that no one should borrow food or anything from their neighbours. He also declared that anyone who left the forest would lose their place in heaven,” the second witness said.
He testified that he had previously attended the GNI branch in Luanda, Vihiga County, before relocating to the Shakahola forest with his uncle.
The two witnesses were testifying in a case where Mackenzie and 94 co-accused are facing 238 counts of manslaughter following the deaths of over 460 people in the Shakahola forest tragedy. The hearing continues.
