Witness: Mackenzie buried his breastfeeding baby in Shakahola

“Mackenzie’s breastfeeding child died, we buried the infant in Galilee,” he testified in court on Tuesday. 

Galilee was one of nine administrative villages established by Mackenzie in Shakahola Forest. It was home to senior cult officials, who in turn oversaw the other eight villages.

Though not as deep inside the forest as other settlements, Galilee was still cut off from ordinary life, a command post from which the movement was run. 

The witness said that when Mackenzie’s infant died during the fast, the child was buried there. Amanya added that his own daughter, Snider Dorcus, who would be 23 years old today, was also buried in Galilee.

Other believers residing in the village likewise lost children who were laid to rest in the same sandy soil. However, Amanya said that when word spread that authorities had learned of the deaths and were closing in on the forest, all the children buried in Galilee, including his daughter and Mackenzie’s child, were exhumed and reburied in Samaria. 

Samaria lay deeper inside the forest, far from the feeder roads that made Galilee relatively accessible. He told the court that this was done to conceal evidence of the deaths that had occurred in Galilee, which was Mackenzie’s base. 

“Mackenzie made it clear that he did not want any evidence. So we exhumed the bodies from graves in Galilee and reburied them deep in Samaria village,” Amanya said. 

Amanya himself dug graves, besides being a security man. He carried children bound with wire to enforce fasting. Six of his seven children died. 

“I carried my two children on my shoulders with a lot of pain, promising them that I would also come to Jesus when they asked me whether I would follow,” he said, breaking down. 

“Mackenzie served my family the last supper before my children died,” he added. 

Read: Shakahola confessions: Suspect who pleaded guilty details torture, starvation that killed over 400

Now in the dock as a prosecution witness, Amanya said “Jangwani”, or wilderness, was first introduced as a spiritual concept long before followers physically moved into the thickets. 

“Wilderness was described as a spiritual place for the chosen. We were still in Nairobi when this idea of wilderness was introduced to us,” he said. 

He testified that Mackenzie portrayed modern medicine as witchcraft and declared religion evil. 

“He preached that God, humans and government are evil,” he said. 

When authorities shut down the church, Mackenzie rebranded it as Times TV Church.

“He said a time was coming when he would not be allowed to preach because the government was against him,” Amanya recalled. 

If the stations were closed, believers would continue through seminars, then it would be “everyone for himself and his own God”. Eventually, Times TV was shut down. The faithful retreated further inward into what was termed the spiritual wilderness before the eventual physical migration into Shakahola. 

Amanya said he sold property in Nairobi for Sh700,000 and moved with his family and brother to Malindi, and then into the forest. Once inside Shakahola, communication with the outside world was severed. 

“Mackenzie banned the use of mobile phones and demanded complete isolation from the rest of the world,” he said. 

The ban, however, was not applied equally. 

“Only the rich were allowed to own mobile phones and even contact the outside world and visit the nearest trading centres without strict restriction,” he testified. 

The wealthy could shop, withdraw money and receive visits from Mackenzie, often presenting him with gifts of cash and supplies.

The settlement was sharply divided between the haves and the have-nots. 

“You would hear Mackenzie was visiting the rich families, but you would not see him doing the same to the poor,” he said. 

Restrictions escalated from movement to prayer and even Bible reading. 

“Mackenzie ordered that no prayer should be conducted and, if possible, the Bible be burned,” Amanya said. 

When he and his brother worshipped at home, emissaries were dispatched to warn them. 

“The forest should remain silent and no one should be seen worshipping and praying,” Mackenzie ordered. 

No food, no water, until death

An elder, Evans Sirya, was overseeing the nine villages scattered across the forest and acted as a link between Mackenzie and the area leadership.

He relayed instructions from Mackenzie to other cult leaders. Dissent was punishable. 

A bodyguard known as Paul was reportedly beaten by locals opposed to Mackenzie’s activities. Instead of being taken to hospital for treatment, his boss told him that the only viable option was to “take a jet to heaven”. 

“Mackenzie then told him that there was no need for him to go to hospital but to take a jet and go to heaven,” Amanya said. 

Taking a jet was coded language for a dry fast, no food, no water, until death. 

“Paulo died thereafter,” he added. 

The turning point came in June 2022 when elders from the local community demanded that the cult followers buy the land or vacate after it emerged that Mackenzie had only leased it. A meeting resolved that compensation be sought.

“After calculation, a figure of Sh4 million was arrived at as the value of the properties. This figure was presented to the elders as an acceptable compensation for the believers before they voluntarily vacate the land,” Amanya said.

The Mwabaya Mwaro clan elders refused and vowed to invade.

Read: How pastor's confession, State House call ripped open Shakahola horror

“Mackenzie then told us that instead of waiting to be attacked, we must start fasting so that by the time the elders come to attack us, we would have gone to see Jesus,” Amanya said.

The fast was to begin with those who had no food left. Borrowing food or visiting neighbours was banned.

“He told the people that if Jesus was not going to bring food, then it was not a sin to die by fasting,” he testified.

Families prepared what they called the “last supper”. As deaths mounted, dreams of dead relatives were cited as encouragement to hasten the fast.

“If your child has died, there was no waiting; you were required to start digging the grave. Bodies were wrapped in lesos. Graves were flattened and vegetables planted on top to conceal them,” he said. 

As deaths surged, security units worked in shifts to guard those hiding in the canopy, those seeking water and those resisting the fast.

Were it not for a last-minute deal with the State,  Amanya, who served in the security docket in the grim Shakahola Forest where more than 450 followers of the cult linked to Mackenzie perished, would be facing a long prison term, possibly life imprisonment.

Instead, a negotiated agreement with the State dramatically altered his fate.

In exchange, Amanya will serve just two years in prison before rejoining society. Under the plea agreement, Amanya, alias Hallelujah, pleaded guilty freely and voluntarily to all 43 counts.

He also agreed to testify as a prosecution witness in the ongoing Shakahola manslaughter trial, including the Kwa Bi Nzaro cult case. In return, the prosecution withdrew 195 of the 238 original manslaughter charges preferred against him and undertook to discharge him in the Tononoka Children’s Court case.

“We ask the court to treat Amanya as a first offender and not to impose the maximum sentence of life imprisonment,” the prosecution said.

The State recommended an eleven-year sentence, taking into account the three years he has already spent in remand prison. The remaining eight years would comprise two years in custody under a rehabilitation programme run by prison authorities and the National Counter Terrorism Centre, followed by six years of non-custodial supervised probation to facilitate his reintegration into society.

The plea bargain was entered after more than 100 witnesses had testified in the manslaughter case, in which the accused faced 238 counts.

Despite his decision, Amanya’s wife, Anne Anyoso, and his younger brother, David Amanya, continue to stand trial alongside Mackenzie and 93 others.

Taking the witness stand on Tuesday, Amanya narrated how he moved from Nairobi to Malindi and eventually to Shakahola Forest, laying bare what transpired inside and the roles played by the accused in the deaths of more than 450 followers of the outlawed Good News International Church (GNI).

He told the court that Mackenzie introduced fasting after it became apparent that they were likely to be evicted from the forest.

According to Amanya, more than 900 people were living in the forest and over 700 perished in the fast. Official figures show that only 450 bodies have been exhumed, suggesting that more remain in shallow graves in the forest.

Follow our WhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.

[email protected]