By Hassan Wekesa - Editor
Kenya, 19 October 2026 - Justice Diana Kavedza on Monday gave an analysis of how some religious leaders dupe believers into oblivion and self-destruction.
She was speaking during a court sitting at the Mombasa High Court, where a ruling on Pastor Paul Mackenzie and his associates is expected.
Mackenzie used GNI Ministries, both at its Furunzi headquarters and its 25 branches across the country, to radicalise parents and their children.
He also conducted physical crusades and seminars, and propagated radical messages through Times TV and YouTube. He personally declared that all the chosen must relocate to the wilderness and purchased land for their settlement. Ultimately, he led his followers into occupying 4,860 acres.
Mackenzie, the court noted, enforced an ideology that defied the national laws and deprived people their human rights.
Further he resorted to physical relocation into the forest, where the children were subsequently starved to death.
The relocation to Shakahola Forest was therefore inspired not just by his eloquence and power of persuasion, but also by his full participation and supervision.
The teachings of Mackenzie and the associate pastors led Good News International (GNI) followers to adopt an extreme belief system that rejected all government policies and violated basic human rights. This ultimately led to the deaths of 429 people, 191 of whom are the subject of the charges before this court.
It is the court’s respectful finding that Mackenzie successfully executed the heinous enterprise through the following mechanisms.
One, ideological indoctrination. He subverted natural parenting and the parental instinct to protect children from harm, replacing it with mandatory compliance with apocalyptic prophecies.
Two, parental cognitive and behavioural shift. He psychologically manipulated parents to depart from the inherent, conventional and natural norms of protecting one’s lineage.
Three, exploitation of the vulnerable. Mackenzie successfully targeted and recruited vulnerable members of his church and, after securing their absolute trust, psychologically manipulated them into isolation at Shakahola, where he ultimately coerced them into total submission. He promoted and condoned the use of violence and hate speech against members of GNI Ministries to achieve religious goals and to punish perceived rebellion.
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Finally, Mackenzie successfully coerced his followers into believing that religion must completely replace civic laws, democratic norms and personal freedoms.
“Fasting was presented as pathway to heaven and violence was deployed to children to ensure they comply to the directives of deprivation,” Justice Kavedza stated.
Children were locked inside houses. The accused persons were aware of the consequences, she stated.
A canopy of thorns was made at Shakahola to prevent escape. The victims were too weak to flee, and only a few, such as PW8, were lucky to remain alive.
PW1 entered the forest with a journalist but was assaulted by Mackenzie’s co-accused. Even a Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officer who accessed the forest where Mackenzie and the victims were was assaulted.
PW11 told the court that there were deliberate efforts to transfer the bodies of those who had died in the forest in an attempt to conceal the shallow graves.
The judge cited Kenya's International Crimes Act (Cap 60) which criminalises genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes under Kenyan law. It is an Act of Parliament (No. 16 of 2008) that incorporates the Rome Statute into domestic Kenyan law. It commenced on 1 January 2009.
Daniel Mwaniki Njoroge, a witness, told the court that GNI was registered by the Registrar of Societies on 22 September 2010.
Witnesses told the court that Mackenzie was the one who led the Shakahola controversial meetings.
He allegedly charged KSh 1,000 to follower when Times TV and GNI were ordered to shut down at Furunzi in Malindi and he told them that the church would relocate to Jangwani (Wilderness) at Shakahola Forest.
He used his vehicle 'Kisha Nikaona' was used to ferry the victims from Furunzi to Shakahola via Malindi-Shakahola Road.