Letters from Paul: Why Shakahola suspects are exchanging letters in prison
Paul Mackenzie when he appeared before Shanzu Law Courts on June 2, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Prison authorities claim McKenzie and his followers are using letters to propagate their beliefs.
- Shanzu Senior Principal Magistrate Yussuf Shikanda wants the letter presented to him in a sealed envelope.
Like the biblical apostle Paul, suspects being investigated for the Shakahola massacre are writing and exchanging letters in prison, encouraging each other on the importance of fasting.
Prison authorities have claimed that key suspect Paul Mackenzie and his associates may be using letters to further promote extreme religious beliefs in prison, spreading the gospel of fasting as the only way to meet Jesus.
In documents filed with the Shanzu court, prison officials said they had intercepted correspondence dated July 22, 2023 that appeared to encourage fasting until death as the only way to a supposed heaven.
"From a reading of the contents of the correspondence, the police have reasonable grounds to believe that it contains religious instructions emanating from an extreme belief system that is the subject of investigations into the Shakahola massacre,” Chief Inspector Raphael Wanjohi said in an affidavit filed with the court.
The letter has been handed over to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for forensic examination to identify the author.
"The information provides a basis for fasting to death, describing it (fasting to death) as the only way to transition to be with 'Yesu'," the investigator said.
According to Mr Wanjohi, an analysis of the contents of the letter shows that it is consistent with the accounts of eyewitnesses who were in Shakahola before the massacre.It has also been alleged that the contents of the letter matches videos of the sermons that Mackenzie has uploaded on YouTube, allegedly as part of his recruitment crusades.
Mr Wanjohi said the letter could be published on media platforms that share secondary court proceedings and records.
He described the interviewees as dangerous because of their apparent eagerness to defend and justify their beliefs.
The State has said the development may significantly affect its ability to physically reach, manage, supervise or control the defendants for the purpose of carrying out de-radicalisation programmes, unless they are detained in a prison pending trial.
The State has also accused Mr Mackenzie of using the constitutional right of access to information to disseminate his messages through open court proceedings and in full glare of the cameras.
Shanzu Senior Principal Magistrate Yussuf Shikanda ordered that the letter be presented to him in a sealed envelope.
This comes even as it emerged that senators have summoned Mr Makenzie and televangelist Ezekiel Odera over cult deaths in Shakahola, Kilifi County.
The two are part of witnesses set to appear before the Senate ad-hoc committee investigating the incident today.
The committee that is chaired by Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana has also summoned Director of Criminal Investigations Mohammed Amin and Chief Government Pathologist Johannsen Oduor.
Individual security and administration officers who were in charge at the time the deaths as well as Kaya elders will also appear before the committee.
The Prisons Department has been notified by the committee to produce Makenzie, who is currently in custody.
Makenzie is expected to shed the light on his involvement in the happenings at Shakahola forest where hundreds of bodies have been exhumed.
The State is treating Makenzie as the prime suspect in the mass suicide of his followers, which post-mortem examinations carried out by Dr Oduor revealed to have mainly been caused by self-starvation.
