Shakahola cult: Silence, sombre mood in court as man recounts how he lost 12 relatives

The Tononoka Children’s Court was silent and in sombre mood as a 60-year-old witness recounted how the Shakahola massacre destroyed nearly his entire family.

The Shakahola tragedy over 150 lives, under the leadership of the main suspect controversial pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie of the Good News International Church.

Titus Ngonjo Gandi told Principal Magistrate Nelly Chepchirchir that his wife, Esther Birya Masha, was the first in his family to be drawn into the cult.

She later lured their two sons, Harry and Isaack Ngala, into Mackenzie’s teachings.

Both sons joined the sect along with their wives and children, abandoning education, employment and family obligations.

Gandi said his first-born son, Harry, perished in Shakahola forest along with his wife and their five children.

His second son, Isaack, a former General Service Unit (GSU) officer, resigned from his job after Mackenzie’s teachings led him to believe that salaried work was evil.

He told the court that Isaack’s wife, a teacher employed by the government, also resigned, and the couple moved with their three children to Shakahola.

Tragically, Isaack, his wife and two of their children died in the forest. Only one child survived, now under the care of Gandi.

Of the 12 relatives he lost, Gandi said he has only been able to bury two.  

He said DNA analysis confirmed the identities of some of the deceased. One grandson remains unaccounted for.

Gandi described the surviving child as "the flower of my eyes" and urged the court to deliver justice for himself and his grandson.

He said his life was devastated after losing his wife, two sons, their spouses and grandchildren to what he called a “radical doctrine.”

He recalled warning his wife against joining Mackenzie’s church, which openly denounced education and formal employment.

 He said their marriage became strained after she embraced the cult’s beliefs, and he insisted there was nothing good about the church’s teachings.

Gandi revealed that Isaack had even withdrawn his eldest son, Seith, from school in adherence to the sect's ideology.

He emphasised that Mackenzie’s message turned productive citizens into dependents who abandoned their families to suffer.

He also recounted his final meal with his wife before she disappeared into the forest, never to return.

Gandi told the court he first saw Mackenzie in person during his wife’s burial, though he had previously seen him on social media.

He also identified other cult members, including Smart Mwakalama and Evans Sirya.

Gandi concluded his testimony by calling for swift justice, stating that his family had been destroyed by indoctrination.