Police Stage Night Operation, Flush Out Pastor Mackenzie's Wife
Mumbua was arrested on Monday night, May 1 alongside her aunt from a hideout in Mtwapa, Kilifi County
Marvin Chege 
Police have arrested the wife of self-proclaimed spiritual leader, Paul Mackenzie, Rhoda Mumbua Maweu, in connection with the Shakahola massacre.
Mumbua was arrested on Monday night, May 1 alongside her aunt from a hideout in Mtwapa, Kilifi County according to police sources, where she had fled to since investigations began.
Investigations revealed that Mumbua was working as a "human resource manager" in one of the key operations of Mackenzie's church and playing a significant role in recruiting members to the cult as well as managing its financial operations.
Side-by-side image of Pastor Paul Mackenzie and bodies retrieved from Shakahola forest in Kilifi County. /VIRALTEAKE
The ongoing investigations also linked Mackenzie to several incriminating messages found on his phone, exchanged with his wife in a series of events culminating in the pastor's arrest on April 15, 2023.
Police have been reviewing Mackenzie's phone records and interviewing individuals connected to the church when Mumbua's name came up as a person of interest during the review of the phone records.
Mackenzie, who managed to keep his private life reclusive from the limelight, married Mumbua after the death of his second wife in 2017.
At the time, Mackenzie's second wife left behind four children. Mackenzie's first wife, however, died in 2009 and left behind two children.
Mackenzie's church, which is based in Kilifi, has been at the centre of police scrutiny for several months after members were found dead from starvation. The cult's teachings included skewed and extreme religious practices, coupled with fear of the unknown.
The self-styled spiritual leader has been accused of manipulating his followers, leading them to their deaths in pursuit of salvation.
The government, on Monday, May 1, commenced the post-mortem examination on 110 bodies that were recovered from the Shakahola forest at the Malindi Sub-County Hospital Mortuary.
Government Chief Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor after conducting an autopsy on the first 10 bodies indicated that a number of the victims suffered asphyxiation, which is a condition caused by the body being deprived of the amount of oxygen, leading to suffocation.
"Two of them had cyanosis- a bluish discolouration of fingernails and by inference, we can confirm that it was caused by asphyxiation, " Oduor noted.
"Generally, most of them had features of starvation. We saw individuals who had no food in the stomach and the layer of fat was small in the stomach but their liver was fatty, indicating starvation."
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