Police Refused To Give Me Food While In Jail- Paul Mackenzie

Shanzu Law Courts will on Wednesday, May 10 deliver a ruling on a request by police to detain them for 90 more days.

Marvin Chege Marvin Chege
May 5, 2023 - 17:18 Updated: May 5, 2023 - 17:19
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Police Refused To Give Me Food While In Jail- Paul Mackenzie
Kilifi cult leader Paul Mackenzie (left) and his co-accused in a Malindi court on May 2, 2023. /NATION BREAKING

Shakahola cult leader Paul Mackenzie on Friday, May 5 claimed that he was subjected to torture by police officers while in custody.

This is as he, his wife, Rhoda Mumbua Maweu, and sixteen other co-accused persons were denied bail after he failed to convince the Magistrate to set him free. They will remain in police custody for five more days.

Shanzu Law Courts will on Wednesday, May 10 deliver a ruling on a request by police to detain them for 90 more days.

Pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge accompanied by some of his followers during a court appearance in Malindi on April 17, 2023. /AP

Mackenzie, in pursuit of court orders to free them on a considerable bail, claimed that police had targeted him with the intention of torturing him and treating him in inhumane circumstances to the point he was denied food while behind bars.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) however accused the Good News International Church Pastor of using skewed, extreme religious teachings and fear to control people's free will.

While appearing before Shanzu Law Courts, the prosecution stated that Mackenzie had propagated silent violence of the unknown in the pursuit of salvation, which led to the deaths of hundreds of his followers.

"He was preaching a doctrine that encourages his followers to starve themselves to death in order to reach heaven faster," the Prosecution stated. 

ODPP also told the Magistrate that the police were reviewing Mackenzie's phone records as well as conducting interviews with individuals who are connected to the church.

The court was also informed that a team of government Pathologists was conducting a post-mortem exercise which began on Monday, May 1, which is targeting 110 bodies that detectives exhumed from the 800-acre piece of land in Shakahola forest, Kilifi County.

The 19 Good News International Church members were investigated for criminal activities at Shakahola Forest, including abetting suicide, radicalisation, and terrorism.

As of Thursday, May 4, a post-mortem was carried out on 24 bodies exhumed from the mass graves in Shakahola, with 11 out of the 110 to be conducted on Friday. Of the 24, three were children and 21 adults, and eight were male and 16 female.

“Two bodies had head injuries, an indication that the people died due to blunt trauma, while one woman, who seemed to have delivered recently, may have died due to delivery complications, from the analysis of her uterus,” Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor updated on May 4.

Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor at the Malindi Sub-County Hospital Mortuary during the autopsy exercise of victims of the Shakahola massacre on May 1, 2023. /FILE