By Hassan Wekesa - Editor
Kenya, 8 October 2026 - As the ruling on controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie in the Shakahola matter draws near, the Children's Department is awaiting the court's decision, as well as his disclosure of crucial documents relating to his five minor children, so that they can secure birth certificates.
Mackenzie and his wife are both in custody, while the children's grandmother is allegedly starving them in what is termed fasting. This is the same practice that caused the deaths of followers of Good News International Church, who also followed Mackenzie's preachings on Times TV.
The ruling is due on 16 October 2026, either in Malindi or Mombasa.
The case recalls the Shakahola massacre, in which at least 443 people lost their lives adhering to Mackenzie's teachings on fasting.
The 443 bodies have been preserved at the Malindi Sub-County Hospital mortuary and are set to be buried in a mass grave at Shakahola after authorities completed the DNA identification process.
Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung'aro told journalists in September that the bodies would be buried at the site where they were recovered, after the government secured approval to establish a communal grave at Shakahola.
Mung'aro said the government had also resolved challenges that previously affected the preservation of the bodies, including electricity problems, after the Kenya Red Cross and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) installed a system that allows the bodies to be preserved without relying on electricity.
"We were allowed to bury the bodies at Shakahola and now we are taking them back to where they died, such that they will be buried in a mass grave," Mung'aro stated.
However, some residents whose relatives died at Shakahola have since refuted the county boss's claims that they had refused to take the bodies of their relatives over alleged cultural concerns that bringing them home could bring misfortune.
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Recently, a close family member of Mackenzie, whose identity Dawan Africa is withholding for fear of reprisal, said the preacher used to tell them that he had secured a large farm at Chakama and that, whenever he was away, he was tilling it.
"He would come back with maize, so we believed his claims," the source stated.
On Wednesday, detectives raided Mackenzie's Furunzi home to rescue the five children. The raid followed a police report by Mackenzie's eldest son, alleging that their grandmother, Anastasia Mumwele, was starving the minors.
Homicide Director Martin Nyuguto was accompanied by officials from the Malindi Sub-County Children's Department, and they combed the home.
The minors are aged between four and 14, and the government is now in the process of securing birth certificates for them. Without these documents, enrolling the children in school is becoming a challenge.
The Children's Department is expected to move to court on Friday seeking orders to process the birth certificates for the five minors and to enrol them for basic education.
The minors are currently at the Malindi Rescue Centre as police probe the matter to establish whether there are aspects of radicalisation.
Children's Department Awaits Mackenzie Ruling Before Securing Birth Certificates for His Children
Detectives rescue Mackenzie's five minors over alleged starvation in the hands of grandmother.