Why 2026 is a year of reckoning for Paul Mackenzie

Monday, January 12, 2026

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Pastor Paul Mackenzie with other accused persons who is charged with the murder of 191 Children in the Shakahola Massacre.

Photo credit: Kevin Odit| Nation Media Group

By Brian Ocharo

Correspondent

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While millions of Kenyans welcomed 2026 with hope and fresh resolutions, the new year has opened as a season of reckoning for preacher Paul Mackenzie, a key suspect in the Shakahola massacre.

After nearly three years of investigations, exhumations, and court battles, Mackenzie and his 95 co-accused now stand at the edge of judgment, with the courts poised to determine whether they have a case to answer in one of the deadliest cult-related tragedies in the country’s history or walk free.

The prosecution has exhausted all the witnesses and evidence in two of the Shakahola cases where it had to prove the involvement of the suspects in the death of 450 followers of the outlawed Good News International (GNI) church.

shakahola mass graves — Detectives and residents load bodies onto a police vehicle after digging them out of mass graves on land owned by cult leader Paul Mackenzie at Shakahola village in Kilifi County on April 23, 2023.

Photo credit: Wachira Mwangi | Nation Media Group

Proceedings relating to radicalisation that were before the Shanzu court, and charges of child neglect, torture, and denial of education, handled at the Tononoka Children’s court, have both been concluded by the prosecution.

Last week, the State closed its case in Shanzu court after calling 96 witnesses who included the survivors, their families, experts and investigators. The State also tabled nearly 500 assorted exhibits in the lengthy trial that commenced on July 8, 2024, to prove its case.

Chief Inspector Raphael Wanjohi was the last witness in the case. His testimony summarised the elaborate and sustained programme of radicalisation by the preacher that resulted in the death of hundreds in the forest.

He told the court how Mackenzie transformed GNI into a tool for indoctrination, using extreme and distorted interpretations of scripture over a period exceeding 10 years.

Other witnesses, including former pastors, said Mackenzie’s teachings gradually trained followers to view suffering, deprivation, and even death as acts of spiritual obedience. The court heard that the indoctrination was so methodical and severe that followers came to view death by fasting not as cruelty, but as the sole passage to meet Jesus.

According to witnesses, funerals became ceremonial weddings, and deaths from fasting were celebrated as heroic acts of faith.

Mr Wanjohi further explained to the court that Mackenzie extensively exploited social media platforms to amplify his ideology in addition to his Times Television channel, shut down in 2019 over extremist broadcasts.

His evidence was that the preacher also used various YouTube channels such as End Times Breaking Mackenzie, religious seminars, revival crusades and closed WhatsApp forums to deliver his message to his flock both within the church and across the country.

“The repeated messaging drew large audiences both online and in person,” said Mr Wanjohi.

Investigators further revealed that between 2020 and 2023, Mackenzie and his inner circle escalated their control over followers by severing their ties with mainstream society. Members were instructed to abandon schooling, healthcare services and all engagement with government institutions and services.

Parents were reportedly convinced to withdraw their children from school and relocate to Shakahola forest, often misleading relatives by claiming they were moving to Malindi to purchase land. Once in the forest, followers were instructed to change their names to conceal their identities.

Witnesses engaged in investigations testified how they faced difficulties establishing the identities of both the survivors and the accomplices, as the names given by family members did not match those used within Mackenzie’s network.

The investigators presented evidence showing that Mackenzie acquired approximately 480 acres of land within Shakahola, which he divided into settlements named after biblical locations such as Galilee, Bethlehem, Judea and Emmaus, Sidon amongst others.

According to investigators, the villages operated under a strict command system, with Mackenzie at the top, supported by deputies, guards tasked with enforcing compliance, cooks and individuals assigned to dig graves and bury the dead. Evidence presented by witnesses show that Mackenzie personally presided over some of these burials.

Some 450 bodies were exhumed from the forest, but the investigators warned that the actual death toll could be higher, with many victims, especially children, still unaccounted for.

The state also produced medical reports to prove that death actually occurred in the forest and what caused them.

Medical and forensic reports identified cases of extreme dehydration and malnutrition, while pathologists linked the causes of death to starvation and related complications.

According to the death program in the forest, as disclosed by witnesses, children were to die first, followed by women, and then men. Mackenzie and his family were to die last.

The evidence presented showed that fasting initially began voluntarily but later escalated into forced starvation, enforced by guards who ensured strict compliance.

Inspector Onyango Owade who was involved in the investigations disclosed that 28 rescued children described being subjected to psychological abuse and coerced fasting. This contradicted Mackenzie’s assertion that fasting was voluntary.

According to Chief Inspector Peter Mwangi, also a witness, DNA profiling established close familial links between many of the accused and deceased children. The deceased are either spouses of the suspects, their children, parents or extended family members.

In several instances, the detective said the probe established that entire families were wiped out in the deadly fast.

Read: Fresh details emerge on Mackenzie's links to Kwa Bi Nzaro 'priestess'

Written records recovered from the temporary makeshifts in the forest, detailing financial contributions made by parents, alongside lists identifying deceased and surviving children were among evidence produced in court as exhibits to help nail Mackenzie to the deadly massacre.

Bibles, DVDs and other religious materials retrieved from the forest and subjected to analysis by counter-terrorism specialists and religious scholars also formed part of evidence against the doomsday preacher.

Experts who examined these exhibits concluded in their findings that Mackenzie selectively manipulated biblical texts to justify teachings that rejected education, medicine and normal social interaction.

Mr Alfred Mwatika summarised his findings by linking the radical ideology promoted by Mackenzie to acts falling under terrorism-related offences. He said followers were taught to view schools, hospitals and medication as satanic influences.

“Many adherents quit their jobs, withdrew children from school, shut down businesses and sold property before relocating to Shakahola,” said the investigator, adding that this marked a dramatic behavioural shift driven by extremist beliefs and ideological violence.

The court heard that the GNI was a structured criminal network with defined roles and a clear chain of command.

At its peak, the church reportedly operated at least 25 branches nationwide before being officially declared a criminal organisation in January 2024. The prosecutors said that Mackenzie and his associates used this network to facilitate crimes including radicalisation, murder, manslaughter, torture and cruelty against children.

With the state’s case having run a full course, both the defence and the prosecution are expected to submit their respective closing arguments before the court determines whether Mackenzie and his co-accused have a case to answer.

In Mombasa, murder and manslaughter cases before High Court and magistrate court respectively are expected to close this month, bringing to an end months of testimony detailing deaths allegedly linked to deliberate acts and omissions by the accused.

With these two remaining cases expected to conclude in January 2026, both the prosecution and judicial officers are working tirelessly to bring the final chapter of the Shakahola horror to a close.

Why 2026 is a year of reckoning for Paul Mackenzie

Death in the Forest: Kwa Bi Nzaro horror and Paul Mackenzie’s long shadow

Fresh details emerge on Mackenzie's links to Kwa Bi Nzaro 'priestess'

How pastor's confession, State House call exposed Shakahola horror

We’ve been shortchanged, Church now hits out at State on proposed law

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