A witness in the ongoing murder trial of controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie has disclosed that self-styled priestess Sharleen Temba Anido was his immediate neighbour in Shakahola forest, placing her at the heart of two cult activities.
Testifying before a Mombasa court, the witness said Ms Anido, who is believed to be the mastermind of the Kwa Bi Nzaro cult deaths, lived next to his family in a settlement eerily christened Judea.
“I know her. She was our neighbour in Shakahola, although I do not know where she is now,” the witness, Mr Robert Kithi said under the guidance of prosecutors.
Kwa Binzaro prime suspect Sharlyne Anindo Temba at the Malindi Law Courts in Kilifi County on September 12, 2025.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
The witness told the court that he never spoke to Ms Anido, yet her presence lingered, a familiar silhouette among the forest’s tangled paths. Mr Kithi lived in Judea with his father, Gilbert Kea, his mother, Persi Geji, and his six siblings.
Evidence presented in court shows that Mackenzie had divided the expansive forest into “Biblical villages” named after sacred sites such as Bethlehem, Nazareth and Judah. They were mapped not just as places to live, but as symbolic sanctuaries meant to reprogramme the minds of more than 700 followers who came seeking salvation.
The prosecution argues that the naming served a dual purpose; to reinforce the perceived spiritual significance of the forest and to cultivate a sense of divine destiny among Mackenzie’s followers, known as Wateule, meaning the chosen ones.
To the indoctrinated faithful, Shakahola was not an ordinary Kenyan forest, but a sacred realm where they awaited the imminent rapture, which Mackenzie and his followers referred to as 'kunyakuliwa'.
The eight settlements were Galilee, Judea, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Emmaus, Sidonia, Tiru and Sikare. Every follower was allocated land and settled in one of these villages on arrival.
Each village was managed by a “close cabinet” of trusted Mackenzie loyalists, including Smart Deri Mwakalama and Evans Kolombe Sirya. Mackenzie himself lived in Judea, from where he monitored operations and held Saturday meetings under a tree.
The Kithi family moved to Judea in early 2022 after leaving Malindi town. His confirmation that he knew Ms Anido strengthens the state’s position that she was among those rescued from Shakahola in 2023, or among those who narrowly escaped the police dragnet during the operation that led to the arrest of hundreds of followers of the outlawed Good News International (GNI) Church.
Court documents show that Ms Anido and her accomplices, Kahindi Kazungu Garama, Thomas Mukonwe and James Kazungu, who are currently in custody, had lived in Shakahola with their families before fleeing and later regrouping at Kwa Bi Nzaro.
At Kwa Bi Nzaro, Ms Anido is said to have bought five acres of land and established fasting bays. Remnants of the GNI were allegedly lured there, ordered to fast to death and kept under guard. Graves were discovered around the homestead, which sits less than 500 metres from the dusty road leading into the village.
The state further alleges that Ms Anido’s husband died during extreme fasting rituals in Shakahola, where more than 450 Mackenzie followers perished. In his testimony on Tuesday, Mr Kithi recounted how his family moved into the forest and how he later escaped when life became unbearable. After spending a year in the forest with his parents and siblings, he fled in February 2023, just months before the Shakahola massacre was uncovered.
“People had been told to fast to death in order to meet Jesus. That idea did not make sense to me. I left my parents and siblings when I could no longer endure it,” he said, responding to a question from Mackenzie’s lawyer.
Pastor Paul Mackenzie when he appeared before a Mombasa court on November 10, 2025.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
“We were told that rapture was coming, so we had to fast and die before it happened so that we could see Jesus,” he said. According to him, Mackenzie instructed his followers to live in the forest for three and a half years, at which point the rapture would occur.
The witness recounted that while the GNI congregation was still worshipping at the Furunzi church, a member had a dream. Its interpretation became the catalyst for the mass relocation to the forest. In the dream, a woman gave birth but was chased by a snake. She ran into the forest, where she found refuge.
“The child symbolised the church. That is why we were told that we were the chosen people and had to seek refuge in the forest. After three and a half years, the rapture would take place. It was expected in June 2023,” he said.
Morticians carry the remains of a person exhumed at Kwa Bi Nzaro village within the vast Chakama Ranch in Kilifi County on August 28, 2025 as part of investigations into a suspected cult.
Photo credit: Brian Charo | Nation Media Group
While in the forest, he was assigned to a team of five people who guarded water pans to prevent wild animals from consuming all the water. He admitted that he initially believed in the promised rapture but eventually left because of starvation.
Only he and one brother survived. Two siblings have been confirmed dead, while two others remain missing. His father is among those charged alongside Mackenzie with the murder of 191 children in Shakahola. His mother, Ms Geji, is facing a manslaughter charge in the magistrates’ court.
Although not a protected witness, Mr Kithi testified from inside the witness box and avoided eye contact with his father. When asked whether he wished to speak to him, he said he had no interest, signalling deep animosity and tension between them over the deaths of his siblings in the Shakahola cult.
The revelations came a few days after investigators told another court that the death toll in the Kwa Bi Nzaro cult has risen to 52. The revised figure resulted from a detailed forensic exercise in which experts analysed and matched 102 mixed human remains, enabling the identification of additional victims.
“The association exercise led to the discovery of a further 18 bodies. The total number of bodies now stands at 52,” said Inspector Oliver Nabonwe.
On Monday last week, the Malindi Principal Magistrate's court granted the state 60 more days to complete investigations into Ms Anido and her three alleged accomplices over the Kwa Bi Nzaro deaths.
Mr Nabonwe revealed that the evidence gathered against the four is overwhelming and they are likely to face several charges including murder, radicalisation, manslaughter and engaging in organised criminal activity.
He said statements recorded from witnesses under the Witness Protection Agency have been corroborated by forensic evidence such as call data records, M-Pesa statements and accounts from independent witnesses.
“The evidence establishes how Ms Anido, Mr Garama, Mr Mukonwe and Mr James travelled across the country sensitising followers of GNI to go to Bi Nzaro for prayers, a codename for fasting until death,” he said.
Sharlyne Anindo Temba who is suspected to be the “chief priestess” of the Kwa Bi Nzaro cult.
Photo credit: Pool
A status report on the Kwa Bi Nzaro investigations has also shown details pointing to the involvement of Mackenzie. Mr Nabonwe said Mackenzie is, therefore, likely to be charged in this case.
Earlier court documents indicate that Mackenzie coordinated the victims’ travel from his prison cell at Shimo La Tewa Maximum Security Prison, where he is held over the Shakahola deaths of more than 450 GNI followers.
Detectives allege that between January and July, Mackenzie contacted several former followers by phone, urging them to attend meetings in Busia, Migori and Malindi. During and after these meetings, he allegedly addressed them virtually, directing them to proceed to Malindi and begin fasting so that they could die and “meet Jesus”.
Police further claim that even while in custody, Mackenzie continued to exert control over his followers, delivering radical end time teachings through mobile phone calls from prison.
On November 3, detectives arrested another prime suspect. Mr Nabonwe told the court that the suspect had provided fresh information on the involvement of Ms Anido and the three others.
