Witness in Mackenzie case tells court children who died are 'happy in heaven'

Court gavel./FILE

Controversial preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie on Wednesday continued presenting witnesses in his defence hearing at the Shanzu Law Courts in the terrorism-related case linked to the Shakahola massacre.

Among those who testified was an accused person who told the court that she dropped out of Class Seven while attending a boarding school in Busia county in order to dedicate her life to serving God.

The witness testified that her decision was influenced by a dream in which she allegedly saw herself lying among dead bodies.

According to her testimony, the dream appeared to come true after a fire broke out at her school, injuring learners and destroying property.

“When the incident happened, I lost all my properties in school, but since God saved my life, I decided to leave school and serve the Almighty God, as I believed that my dream had come true,” she told the court.

She further testified that her parents opposed her decision to leave school.

According to her testimony, she later travelled to Nairobi before heading to Shakahola, where she was eventually arrested.

The witness confirmed before the court that she was a “Mteule” but stated that she could not identify which of the accused persons belonged to the group.

Another accused person also testified in her defence, telling the court that she lost all six of her children in Shakahola.

She claimed that the children willingly fasted to death in an effort to “meet their Creator”.

The witness further testified that her children dug their own graves before they died and expressed her belief that they are “happily in heaven”.

During cross-examination by the prosecution team on why she did not stop her children from taking their lives, she responded by quoting the Bible verse in Matthew where Jesus says: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

She also identified herself as the wife of one of the co-accused persons and alleged that the deaths of her children occurred after she had separated from him.

Explaining how they ended up in Shakahola, the witness claimed that a pastor from a Nairobi church convinced them to relocate to Malindi and facilitated their flights after they sold their house in Nairobi.

According to her testimony, the pastor later took all the money from the sale of the house, leaving them stranded in Shakahola.

The court also heard that the defence team had made an application seeking to adopt the testimony of three witnesses recorded in Malindi Criminal Case E003 of 2024 in totality in the current matter.

The defence hearing is expected to continue as more witnesses take the stand in the ongoing case linked to the deaths discovered in Shakahola forest in Kilifi county.