Shakahola Pastor Paul Mackenzie; Shocking Facts about Shakahola Massacre
The heinous cult-like activities at Shakahola, Malindi, were unearthed by Citizen TV’s bold reporter Francis Mutalaki who risked his life by daring the machete-weilding, fierce guards installed by Pastor Mackenzie at the entrance of the 800-acre prayer center to come graveyard.
Mayungu Children rescue center had brushed shoulders with the controversial preacher way back in 2017 after 93 children were rescued from the misleading teachings of the pastor. According to the data at the disposal of the recue centre, half of the rescued children are now dead.
So far, 103 bodies have been exhumed from shallow graves with some containing up to seven bodies.
Shakahola has now been declared a disturbed area by interior Security CS Kithure Kindiki something that has not only baffled Kenyans but also left them yearning for more information.
The key questions were, where were CS Kindiki and his team when tens of children were being forced to starve to death at the Shakahola forest? Where was the Nyumba kumi security team or chiefs? Why is the media being blocked from accessing the crime scene after making concerted efforts to stop the horrors?
Meanwhile, six people believed to be cult leader Paul Mackenzie’s followers have been detained five days as detectives investigate their role in the Shakahola mass killings.
Smart Mwakalama, Lucas Owino, Zablon Atanda , Daniel Makori, John Mark Kiara and Fredrick Kirimi have been remanded at the Mtwapa police station in Mombasa County.
Police traced and arrested Mackenzie in Chakama in a hideout. On Tuesday, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki corroborated Nation’s investigations into the cult, saying, many deaths might have happened within one month.
“He has been arrested and arraigned in court three times but always released on small bonds. Most of the deaths that have happened here in Shakahola occurred after the last payment of the Sh10,000 bond. Had he been jailed at the time, this loss of lives would not have happened,” said Prof Kindiki.
“Curfew orders have also been declared and gazetted within the said area between [6 pm and 6 am] for 30 days.”
The Kilifi County Government also received 200-capacity refrigerated containers from the Kenya Red Cross Society to preserve bodies from Shakahola, where dozens of followers of a cult fasted to death and were buried clandestinely.
County Health Executive Peter Mwarogo said the mortuary at the Malindi Sub-county Hospital was full and cannot accommodate more bodies.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) yesterday obtained orders to search and seize Mackenzie’s properties. Malindi Court Principal Magistrate Ivy Wasike also ordered that the search be extended to his seven associates.
The search is to be conducted by the DCI where the cult leader lives or conducts his business in Furunzi-Malindi and Shakahola for purposes of retrieving bank balances, title documents, sale agreements and motor vehicle details “or any other document and item linked to the offences of terrorism, radicalisation, murder or any other charges that will be preferred against the accused persons.”
