The controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie liked preaching a lot and disliked Mathematics while in high school, a former classmate has said.
Aggrey Ombonya, who says he is the same age as Mackenzie at 47 years, added that they used to sneak whenever their Mathematics teacher came into the classroom.
They both joined Makupa High School in 1992 and sat their KCSE examination in 1994. The private and mixed day school in Mombasa town has since been converted into a hotel.
Ombonya said Mackenzie was nicknamed ‘Prof’ by his classmates because he liked talking about number 666.
“Alikua anaitwa Prof juu alikua anapenda mambo ya kuhubiri mambo na 666, mark of the beast na kupinga mambo na church sana (He was referred to as Prof because he like preaching a lot and criticise the church doctrines,” he said.
Omboya says together with Mackenzie they joined the school in Form 2 and became great friends.
“We used to sneak out of school. In fact, we never learnt Mathematics from Form 3 until we sat our KCSE examination,” Ombonya told the Star on Thursday, adding that Mackenzie scored a D plain in KCSE.
He said the preacher hailed from a humble background, and struggled to pay school fees.
Ombonya, who says he never met any of the preacher's siblings, said they both parted ways after high school, but kept in touch until two years ago when communication between them stopped.
He said the last time he communicated with the preacher, he told him that he had sold his TV station that he used mostly for televangelism to one of the renowned prophets in the country.
