Mackenzie secretly ate in police custody while followers starved for ‘divine intervention’ - Witness

Controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie secretly ate while in police custody even as his diehard followers continued fasting, convinced their hunger strike would deliver them from criminal charges, a police witness has told the court.

Testifying before Principal Magistrate Leah Juma at the Shanzu Law Courts, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Noor Abdi, the former Officer Commanding Malindi Police Station, said Mackenzie and several of his co-accused were detained at the station between June 6 and June 14, 2023.

During that period, Abdi said, at least 15 suspects refused to eat for eight consecutive days, insisting their fasting was a spiritual act meant to secure “divine intervention” in their legal troubles.

“We separated Mackenzie from the rest of the suspects, and our informer reported that Mackenzie ate while in the cell but did it secretly, so that his followers would not notice,” Abdi testified.

The officer said the detainees became dangerously weak during the hunger strike and declined medical assistance even when taken to hospital, maintaining that they were fasting for spiritual reasons.

Abdi also tabled communication records sent to senior commanders reporting the mass refusal of food among the detained Shakahola cult followers.

According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), the testimony forms part of a detailed account presented in court as the prosecution continues to lay out its case against Mackenzie and his 92 co-accused, all facing multiple counts under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

The prosecution also produced Alex Tsofia, an excavator operator who testified that he had been contracted by Mackenzie to construct a dam in Shakahola, Kilifi County, where the alleged cult operated. He told the court he worked at the site for two weeks.

Supporting his testimony, Engineer Fredrick Ako from the National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority presented a report showing that the dam was not designed for irrigation but as a water harvesting pan with a storage capacity of 18,851.6 cubic metres — enough to serve about 218 households or 1,090 people for an entire year.

A subsequent inspection by the Authority found no evidence of irrigation or livestock use, concluding the excavation was purely a water catchment project.

The report, however, estimated that depending on rainfall and consumption, the structure could serve up to 16,498 people for three months.

The court also heard an emotional testimony from Stephen Mwiti, a man whose family was destroyed after his wife became one of Mackenzie’s followers.

“I sometimes walked around with the TV remote in my pocket to stop her from watching Mackenzie’s preaching, but it didn’t help,” Mwiti recounted.

He said his wife later fled their home with their five children while pregnant with their sixth, joining the Shakahola settlement.

“When I heard some people had been rescued from Shakahola, I prayed I would reunite with my family. But I was devastated when I learned that my wife and all six children, including a one-month-old baby, had disappeared,” he told the court tearfully.

A DNA test later confirmed that one of the rescued children was indeed his. When questioned by Mackenzie’s lawyer on whether he would reconcile with his wife, Mwiti said he had left the matter to the court and only wanted justice.

“The case, which has gripped national attention, continues to expose harrowing details about the alleged cult activities in Shakahola, where hundreds of followers are believed to have died through starvation and indoctrination,” the ODPP noted.