Controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie started off as a taxi driver in Malindi in 1995 before venturing into church ministry, the Senate Ad Hoc Committee probing the Shakahola deaths has revealed.
The committee chaired by Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana says in its report tabled in the House on Thursday that Mackenzie, born in 1976 in Lunga Lunga, Kwale County, operated the taxi business until 2011.
"In 2003, he formed the Good News International Ministries. He was initially a member of the Catholic Church before joining the African Brotherhood Church (ABC) and later moved to Ushindi Baptist Church after having a fallout with the leadership at ABC," the team said.
"It is at this point where Mackenzie started preaching and he operated his ministry informally for seven years before it was registered and duly issued with the certificate in September 2010," the committee notes in its report.
In 2019, he relocated to Shakahola forest with his three associates, being Raphael Baya, Steven Kahindi and Jonathan Baya.
The committee said that upon relocation to Shakahola, he irregularly acquiring 800 acres of land, L.R. No. 13472/1 belonging to the liquidated Chakama Ranching Company Limited in 2020.
The Shakahola Forest area is located approximately 100 kilometers north of Malindi Sub County and borders Tsavo East National Park.
The area is on the edge of human settlement which borders a forest that traverses Tsavo East National Park.
The committee was established on April, 27, 2023 following disturbing media reports of the discovery of shallow graves in the Shakahola forest around April 25 attributed to the Good News International Church linked to Mackenzie.
The committee said upon conclusion of its investigations, 428 bodies had been exhumed and recovered from Shakahola forest.
The team said one of the suspects died in prison custody bringing the total number of deaths to 429.
"There is possibility that the death toll may rise in subsequent exhumations," the committee noted.
Meanwhile, the committee said it was informed by the Kilifi County Security Committee that Mackenzie has nine siblings, three of whom are deceased.
He sat for his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education in 1990 at Mwalewa Primary School.
In 1994, Mackenzie sat for his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education at Lukole Secondary School where he obtained a mean grade of C- (minus).
After his Secondary School he travelled to Tanzania. Mackenzie thereafter returned to Kenya and settled in Furunzi, Malindi in 2003 where he worked as a taxi driver.
