You cannot get bored sitting in a courtroom presided over by Justice Diana Kavedza-Mochache.
She will crack jokes, quote the Bible and refer you to the Constitution, sometimes in the same breath. One thing, however, is clear: she is always in charge of her courtroom.
The soft-spoken judge is courteous and patient, readily explaining a point to an accused person, a journalist or an advocate who may not have understood it. If she feels that someone has missed an important detail, she will revisit it for clarity.
Even breaks can be a collective decision in her courtroom. She will ask advocates and accused persons whether they want to take a break. If the majority votes to pause, she will adjourn the proceedings. If they choose to continue, she will oblige.
High Court Judge Diana Kavedza delivers the ruling on the Shakahola mass deaths on October 19, 2026.
Photo credit: Courtesy of NTV
At times, she will reach into her own pocket to buy milk, soda and bread for suspects or accused persons. In trials expected to last more than a week, she may assign those appearing before her the responsibility of providing refreshments for the accused.
There will be a day for advocates to contribute towards the food, another for journalists and another for prosecutors, among others.
But do not let her warmth fool you. Behind the humour and courtesy is a judge who can be uncompromising when the circumstances demand it.
That side of her was evident on Monday when she spent hours reading a judgment against Paul Mackenzie and 30 others in the Shakahola massacre case.
She took the courtroom through the decision methodically, explaining the evidence and why she was taking time to deliver the judgment.
The case involved 191 counts of murder contrary to sections 203 and 204 of the Penal Code, arising from the deaths of 191 people, including 190 children, at Shakahola Forest in Malindi Sub-County, Kilifi County.
The offences were alleged to have been committed between January 2021 and September 2023. The prosecution called 120 witnesses to prove its case, while the defence called nine witnesses to challenge the evidence.
All 31 convicts were members of Good News International Ministries (GNI), led by Mackenzie, who was also known as Mtumishi, Nabii and Papaa. The prosecution said he instructed his followers, including children, to fast to death in the belief that they would meet Jesus in heaven.
Survivors described mandatory meetings held under mitola trees, where Mackenzie allegedly issued the fasting directive. They recounted how children were denied food and water even when supplies were available, while those who attempted to eat, drink or escape faced punishment, beatings, tying up and confinement.
The court also heard how siblings died one after another and how burials were described as “harusi” (weddings), with the dead celebrated as “shujaa wa imani” (heroes of faith). Graves were subsequently flattened and concealed.
The defence maintained that fasting was a matter of personal religious choice, arguing that Mackenzie had not instructed anyone to fast to death. The accused also denied that the deaths resulted from any unlawful acts on their part.
In her analysis, Justice Kavedza found that the accused persons, led by Mackenzie, radicalised members of GNI through what the court described as the six pillars.
She found that Mackenzie deliberately misinterpreted scripture to serve an ulterior purpose, with the teachings translating into actions that exposed followers to danger.
Children were withdrawn from school, medical care was refused, government authority was rejected, followers were isolated and relocated, and parents were induced to starve their children to death.
The court held that the evidence met the threshold under section 12D of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2012, which criminalises the adoption or promotion of an extreme belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically motivated violence.
High Court Judge Diana Kavedza presiding over the murder trial of Albert Ojwang' at the Kibera Law Courts in Nairobi on July 20, 2026.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
Justice Kavedza said Mackenzie's directive to fast to death, issued with the express purpose of enabling followers to attain heaven through death, demonstrated a direct intention to cause death.
“The continued enforcement of the fasting regime despite visible deterioration, repeated deaths and attempts to resist supported the inference that those who knowingly enforced the regime appreciated its probable fatal consequences,” said the judge.
“The evidence before this court establishes both physical forms and psychological forms of suffering. Children were subjected to beating. Children were tied and locked up in houses,” said the judge.
She explained that the physical violence was not necessarily inflicted as a habitual practice but was used to intimidate and coerce those who sought food or water, as well as those who resisted the fasting.
The judgment brought into sharp focus the suffering of children and other followers caught in a system in which religious teachings were used to enforce practices that ultimately cost lives.
Justice Kavedza's judicial career began in 1993, when she joined the Judiciary as a District Magistrate II (Professional). She rose through the ranks to become a chief magistrate before her elevation to the High Court as a judge in 2022.
She has served in the High Court's Criminal Division at Milimani and currently the presiding judge of the Kibera High Court.
Before her elevation to the High Court, she served as head of station at the Shanzu and Kahawa Counter-Terrorism Courts, where she handled cases involving terrorism-related offences.
Among the cases she handled at Kahawa is the trial of suspects who carried out the attack at Dusit D2 Hotel in January 15, 2019 where 21 people were killed in the 3pm attack.
At the conclusion of the case, Justice Kavedza sentenced two men who aided the terrorists who attacked the complex, to 30 years in jail.
Hussein Mohamed Abdille Ali and Mohamed Abdi Ali were sentenced to 30 years imprisonment after the court found them guilty of aiding the terrorist.
The court said the prosecution had proved that the duo facilitated the terrorists by sending them money and securing them identification documents.
Justice Kavedza ruled that the two conspired with others not before court, including Adamu Chege and the lead attacker Ali Salim Gichunge, alias Farouk to commit the 3pm attack in Nairobi.
During the attack, a suicide bomber later identified as Khalid Mahir Riziki, detonated his vest outside the Secret Garden Restaurant at 14 Riverside Complex as armed terrorist led by Gichunge, sprayed bullets on unsuspecting people.
Justice Kavedza has also served as chairperson of the National Community Service Orders Committee and chaired the Business Premises Rent Tribunal (BPRT).
Justice Kavedza holds a Master of Laws (LLM) and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Nairobi, as well as a postgraduate diploma from the Kenya School of Law. She was admitted to the Bar in 1991.
The Shakahola judgment demonstrated the other side of her judicial role, a painstaking examination of evidence and a firm application of the law in a case involving some of the country's most disturbing deaths.
