A stench of death engulfs the remote Shakahola village in Kilifi county after fourteen more bodies were exhumed from shallow graves in suspected cultic worship associated to controversial pastor Paul Mackenzie of the Good News International Church.
This now brings the total number of bodies discovered to 21.
Majority of the bodies discovered yesterday belong to children and women bringing the total number of bodies exhumed to 21.
Fears are rife that more bodies could still be buried in the vast remote village occasioned by fasting to death awaiting return of ‘Jesus Christ’ during the just ended Easter Holiday.
However, it is unclear how the issue escaped the attention of local administrators and intelligence officials amid fears some of the emaciated victims could have been killed from the suspected indoctrination to win over more gullible faithfuls.
Mackenzie’s followers were living and fasting to death.
Mackenzie whose ‘cult-like’ teachings have caught global attention and led to the deaths of followers who fasted to heaven arrived in Malindi in the 1990s as a taxi driver.
Colleagues who worked with him in the taxi driving careers at the Pal Garden Taxis that are near the Malindi police station said his sister who had then been married to a foreigner the one who brought him to hustle.
By then he was not even going to church and never knew how to drive a car.
Since his sister had a taxi, he was taught how to drive by the driver until he began working as a taxi driver at the Palm Garden.
Japhet Charo a former colleague who also turned to his follower at his good news International Ministry church before abandoning the church has revealed that initially, he liked his teachings until when he began spreading hatred for people not to support Islam.
Charo who then had five children left the church after two years leaving only his wife and children as he was not comfortable with the manner in which Mackenzie was spreading hatred to other religions.
In an interview, Charo said his hatred for Mackenzie worsened when he began preaching that people should burn their certificates and children to stop going to school.
His Children he said were affected and came home asking him to allow them to stop schooling as their pastor was advocating against it.
“I told my wife and the children to stop going to the church as such teachings were wrong, with time they agreed with me and left the church too,” he said.
He said in 2019 after Mackenzie closed his Church and said he was done with his ministry they thought all was over until they heard that people were fasting to death in Shakahola area of Magarini constituency Kilifi County.
Charo said up to now he could not believe that the pastor had reached that level of asking people to fast to death.
At the Palm Garden Taxi station which is about 500 meters from Malindi Police Station taxi drivers said Mackenzie had nothing when he came to Malindi and it’s his sister who opted to support him to begin life.
“I have known Mackenzie for over 20 years, he came here her sister had bought a car I remember it was KAD and had been given to a driver after some time he learnt how to drive and ventured into taxi driving,” said Julius Charo a taxi Driver at Palm Gardens.
Charo said as far as they know Mackenzie, he is a man who came to begin work in Malindi and is now at home.
He said they knew him as a talkative person who despite all odds related well with other people until one low season commonly known as Kusi in Malindi when tourism is down, they heard that he had launched a ministry and was a pastor.
They felt happy that one of their own had become a pastor and some taxi drivers and their family members even joined the church with the hope of strengthening their faith.
However, Charo said they were shocked to learn that the pastor was preaching against education and he was arrested.
“He came here and told us he was done with the bible and ministry so he was relocating to Shakahola to do farming,” he said.
He said the last time Mackenzie visited them at their taxi business area was when he was released on a police bond last month and he told them that he was no longer a pastor.
Charo said they were also shocked to hear that the pastor’s followers were fasting to death due to his teachings.
So far, Mackenzie is being held at Malindi Police Station as investigations are going on for him to be taken to court to be charged.
Detectives from the Homicide Unit, Forensic Experts, DCI, government pathologists and police officers together with Kenya Red Cross and Human rights organizations are exhuming bodies at Shakahola.’
