Shakahola case: Five witnesses testify on child torture, starvation and denial of education

The Tononoka Children’s Court on Wednesday heard harrowing testimonies from five witnesses in the ongoing trial of controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie and 34 co-accused.

The suspects are charged with child torture, cruelty and denial of basic education linked to the Shakahola massacre.

The hearing, presided over by Tononoka principal magistrate Nelly Chepchirchir, featured evidence from police officers, relatives of the accused and a teacher.

One of the witnesses, Dominic Kahindi Mwakudza, told the court that police officers had approached him concerning his brother, Felix Katana, who had four children.

The officers wanted to establish why Katana’s children were not in school.

“Katana told me he had chosen not to educate them, saying education had no value. I advised him that it is unlawful to deny children the right to schooling. I even tried to explore ways to assist him, since our own father had taken us to school,” Mwakudza said.

“Eventually, I reported the matter to the authorities and the children were taken in by the children’s department.”

He said Katana’s eldest child had been withdrawn from secondary school while in Form Two, while the other three were pulled out of primary school during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Another witness, Anne Kauchi, a resident of Serena area in Malindi, recounted losing two siblings to the Shakahola tragedy.

A former follower of Mackenzie’s Good News International Church, Kauchi said she abandoned the cult after the pastor started saying education is evil.

“I chose to rebel against Mackenzie’s radical teachings,” she told the court.

However, her mother, Judith Farasi, remained loyal to the cult leader, eventually pulling Kauchi’s younger siblings out of school and relocating to the Shakahola forest.

Kauchi said her mother frequently called her seeking financial support.

In February 2023, she visited her mother after the birth of her first child and spoke to her three siblings.

Shortly afterwards, her mother told her they would no longer be in contact.

Months later, news of mass deaths in Shakahola reached her, and she discovered that her mother and sister, Elinah, were among the 429 victims.

Their identities were confirmed through DNA tests.

Senior Sergeant Cyrus Irungu also testified, narrating how two men reported missing relatives believed to be trapped inside Shakahola forest.

The men claimed that Emily Wanje, her husband, Isaack Ngala, and their children were being starved inside the forest.

Irungu said he relayed the report to Lango Baya OCS Hamara Hassan, who instructed him and two other officers to accompany the men.

The team drove six kilometres before trekking a further nine kilometres into the dense forest, where they arrived at Ngala’s homestead.

There, they encountered an elderly woman carrying an emaciated young boy.

Irungu testified that the woman was not related to the child.

When addressed by name, the boy told officers that his mother had gone to attend a “wedding,” which they later learned was a euphemism for a funeral.

Another relative, identified in court records as HGN, asked the boy about his siblings.

After some hesitation, the child pointed to a flattened section of land where he said his brothers and sisters had been buried.

The minor was later handed over to HGN.

The hearing still continues with five more witnesses expected to take the stand.

INSTANT ANALYSIS

The Shakahola case continues to reveal the devastating impact of Paul Mackenzie’s radical teachings, particularly on children. Testimonies paint a picture of systematic indoctrination where education was demonised, children were starved, and family bonds severed.