Just as the Biblical character Saul experienced a profound revelation on the road to Damascus, leading to his conversion into Paul the Apostle, a pastor in the Shakahola murder investigations, had his moment.
A pastor who was heading Good News International (GNI) church, Mombasa branch, underwent a radical shift in perspective during his time in confinement.
Pastor CO's transformation during his 30-day confinement at Shimo La Tewa Prison in 2018 can be likened to a modern-day Damascus Moment, as he saw the light during this period and decamped from GNI church, associated with suspected cult leader Paul Mackenzie.
This Damascus Moment, as it turns out in court hearing various cases including murder, manslaughter and radicalisation against Mackenzie and 95 of his accomplices, would play a key role in saving lives that would have been lost in the Shakahola Forest.
The pastor’s release from prison saw him preach against Mr Mackenzie's teaching, leading to the split of the GNI church, Bombolulu branch, where he served as the head of the church, whose main headquarters was in Malindi.
Prior to joining GNI church, he worshipped at one of the evangelical churches in Mombasa but he used to follow Mackenzie's preaching on Times Television since 2014.
"I watched Mackenzie's teachings on his television from 2014 and 2017, I was pleased by his teachings. His message was so powerful," he told Shanzu Principal Magistrate Leah Juma.
So in 2017, Pastor CO travelled to Malindi to meet Mr Makenzie, the man he had keenly been following his teachings on television for close to three years.
When he met him, the pastor told the court that Mr Mackenzie told him that he had been receiving several phone calls from Mombasa.
"That is how the GNI Bombolulu branch was opened. I was the head there. We had many members and people were coming to worship with us after we opened this branch. The congregation was growing day by day,” he said on examination-in-chief by State Counsel Ogega Bosibori.
Here, they preached against formal education, modern medicine and end-times messages, which were aimed at persuading all their believers to believe in prayers as the only solutions to their life challenges.
"We would watch Times Television and listen to Mackenzie's messages, that is what we would preach or relay to our congregants in the branches. I believed in this end times messages and Mackenzie's interpretations of the bible verses he relied on and accepted them as the true gospel," he said while being re-examined by State Counsel Victor Owiti and Senior Director Public Prosecutions (DPP) Jamia Yamina.
To him, these end-times messages made sense to him in such a way that he was convinced that Mackenzie reflected the true meaning of what God intended humans to do while in this world.
Ongoing exhumation at a mass grave inside Shakahola Forest.
Photo credit: File| Nation Media Group
He said Mackenzie made them believe in God as the only authority that exists under the sun while rejecting any form of human authority in the form of governments, which they believe are satanic.
"I preached against education, modern medicine and even beauty. We believed that women are not supposed to apply make-up or even use beauty products to enhance their appearance. My last not son even delayed enrolling in school due to these messages that portrayed education as evil and not part of God's plan for mankind," he said
On why his messaging had to mirror that of Mr Mackenzie, the former GNI church pastor said most congregants joined his church because of the preaching and teachings of Mackenzie.
“So I had to align my teachings with his, you cannot go against your boss, you can see Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has been kicked out of the government," he said while defending his preaching, which was similar to that of his boss Mackenzie
He testified that most congregants withdrew their children from formal education as a result of his constant preaching.
"We did not force anyone to withdraw their children from school or even seek medication. They accepted our teachings and followed the same. It was optional in our church but our messages captured their emotions and spiritual well-being," he said
Pastor CO continued his preaching for the better part of 2017, attracting and admitting more followers who were ready to follow his teachings as well as practice what he was preaching.
In 2018, something happened that would later change the pastor's perspective of Mackenzie's teachings.
It happened when Pastor CO and top church leadership decided to conduct outreach programs where they would conduct outdoor preaching.
They would move from one place to another, preaching to different people in various places. They taught those who cared to listen against taking their children to school, going to the hospital, using beauty products as well as inciting people against the government.
One day as they were preaching, they were issued with a letter warning them to cease their radical preaching.
"Because we were deeply indoctrinated, we responded rudely to the authorities. We then took ourselves to the chief's office to complain," he told the court.
Within a few days, the pastor CO said they were arrested while conducting their outreach programmes and presented before Shanzu court. They were charged with radicalisation, preaching without a licence and preaching against formal education.
They were then detained at Shimo La Tewa Remand Prison for a month. While in this oppressive prison environment, stripped of his former authority and confronted with the stark realities of the consequences of radical beliefs, the man of the cloth found clarity.
This isolation and introspection forced him to re-evaluate his allegiance to Mackenzie and the dangerous ideologies propagated within the GNI church.
This period of reflection, as he would later tell the court, became a turning point, illuminating the dangers of leading his followers down a perilous path.
When they again appeared before then Shanzu Senior Principal Magistrate Diana Mochache, now a High Court Judge, he saw more light
Bodies exhumed at Shakahola Forest being loaded into a police van in this picture taken on May 16, 2023.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
"Ms Mochache, as she was then, advised us, she warned us that the path we had taken was that of destruction, he told me that it was not right to keep our children out of school, reminding us of the benefit that comes with education," he said.
The pastor said that the then magistrate talked to them at length, counselled them and offered them advice that made him change his mind against the indoctrination that had been passed from Mackenzie.
"The magistrate then gave me a chance to speak to the people that I had been arrested with. I took that chance and talked to them accordingly. I preached against Mackenzie's doctrines," he said.
According to the witness, the magistrate then released them on a Sh5000 cash bail each, advising them to be good citizens. They were later discharged after committing that he was going to preach against the doctrine which had made them veer off from the true teachings of the religious books.
"It was motherly advice, it sunk in my mind and I began to see light. We were set free and that is how the case ended. The magistrate gave us a chance and I grabbed it to preach against the Mackenzie doctrine," he said
After leaving the prison, the pastor said he started preaching against Mackenzie's doctrines.
"This brought division in the Bombolulu church, those who did not want to change their minds were called traitors. Some accepted my new message and rejected Mackenzie's teachings,' he said.
With this division in the church, those who held Mackenzie's teachings and doctrines then walked away from the Bombolulu branch and opened another church in Milango Saba, Mshomoroni in Kisauni constituency.
"After this division, Mackenzie stopped calling me. Initially, he would call more often to ask me about how we were doing," he said
While other members of the Bombolulu church left to form a new one in Kisauni, another group left for a conference at Furunzi and never came back.
This group that left to form the Milango Saba branch were part of the team that migrated to Shakahola in early 2019.
This is according to a witness who has testified before Mombasa court, where Mackenzie and his group are facing 238 manslaughter charges.
Pastor CO said he left GNI church and joined another evangelical church where he has remained a worshiper to date.
The exhumation exercise in Shakahola forest on June 5, 2024.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
Those who accepted his new message also left the church and joined another church that did not propagate the same ideologies as those of GNI.
"Today, I am a believer in God but not in religion. I am now enlightened and I know the truth,” he said on cross-examination by Mr Mackenzie’s lawyer Lawrence Obonyo when he was asked whether he still believed in God.
He also clarified on cross-examination that he was not given specific messages to relay to his followers but that he feared preaching contrary to his boss, Mackenzie when he was still under him.
"Every preacher in the branches was preaching what was revealed to him, but the same had to align with the doctrines of Mackenzie. There were no instructions but you cannot go against your boss,” he said, adding that they had their messages aside from those they were copy-pasting from their boss.
He also clarified that despite leaving Pastor Mackenzie's church, he holds no grudge and that he considers his former spiritual colleagues his best friends.
"Mackenzie is still my friend, I hold no grudge against him. It is only that we hold different ideologies. I promised the court that I was to abandon the extreme ideologies and that is what I did,” he said.
He added, "Now we are preaching the true gospel of God, we don't radicalise other people. We were also counselled at the prison so when the magistrate offered us her advice, we found no reason to continue holding on to extreme ideology," he said.
The pastor was among those who attended the burial of Mackenzie's wife Joyce Mwikamba in Furunzi. Apart from preaching at the local church, he was also engaged in organizing outreach seminars for the larger GNI church.
Another witness Benaiah Olwande broke down in court while pleading with the court to consider releasing his son on bond to enable him to build his homestead in the village.
"I am supposed to build my home but I cannot do so because he is my eldest son and is now detained in prison," he told the court, saying he is ready to ensure he attends court whenever required.
His son was an engineering student at a university before he was recruited by a friend to join GNI church.
"He had been a good child but one day he came home and told me that the world was coming to an end very soon. I was taken aback and warned him that he had taken a dangerous path," he said
But the son did not listen to him as he continued attending the church and constantly reminded his father of a vision that he had been seeing.
Before he left for Shakahola, the witness said his son told him that the world was soon coming to an end, so there was no need to continue with education.
"At the time he discontinued his education, he was an intern at KenGen company. He did not know what he was doing, so I plead with the court to release him. I am willing to take him back to university to clear with his education," he said
Mr Olwande said his son burnt all his academic certificates after joining GNI, but clarified he is ready to accept him and give him a second chance in life.
In this case, Mr Mackenzie and his 95 co-accused are charged with engaging in organised criminal activity, radicalisation and facilitating the Commission of a Terrorist Act, and being in possession of an article connected with an Offence under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2012.
In this picture taken on March 26, 2024, relatives queue at the Malindi Sub-County Mortuary in Kilifi County to identify the bodies of their loved ones who died in Shakahola Forest.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
It is alleged that on various dates between 2020 and 2023, the accused persons, who were members of GNI church, engaged in organised criminal activities at Kwa Mackenzie area of Shakahola Forest, Chakama Location of Magarini Sub-County within Kilifi County, endangering lives and killing 429 members and followers.
They are also accused of promoting and/or adopting an extreme belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence namely fasting to death by advancing religious change, which occurred between 2020 and 2023 at Shakahola Forest within Kilifi County.
They are also said to have facilitated the commission of a terrorist act by transporting the members and followers of GNI between Shakahola Forest and Malindi Township within Kilifi County, thereby endangering their lives.
It is also alleged that Mackenzie and two others were found knowingly in possession of CDs, DVDs, books and pamphlets for use in instigating the commission of a terrorist act, namely endangering the lives of the members and followers of the GNI church.
