Pastor Paul Mackenzie and his co-accused before the Mombasa law courts /HANDOUT
Long after the discovery of the Shakahola massacre linked to the doomsday teachings of Good News International Church pastor Paul Mackenzie, witness testimony indicates that similar deaths by starvation allegedly continued at Kwa Binzaro, a secluded settlement about 30km from the initial crime scene in Shakahola Forest within Chakama Ranch, Kilifi county.
While hundreds of shallow graves were uncovered in Shakahola in 2023, more graves and human remains were later discovered at Kwa Binzaro in mid-to-late 2025.
According to the prosecution, investigations and witness testimonies show that residual or regrouped followers allegedly continued practising the same doctrine of prolonged fasting and extreme deprivation even after the Shakahola deaths came to light.
On Tuesday, Julius Charo testified virtually before Senior Principal Magistrate Eric Wambo at the Mombasa Law Courts, recounting how he unsuccessfully tried to rescue his brother from the group before his death.
His testimony forms part of the prosecution's case against Mackenzie and his co-accused, who jointly face 29 counts of manslaughter.
Charo told the court that his brother, Harrison, was a preacher at Mackenzie's church and regularly attended services with his family.
He said he became concerned after Harrison embraced teachings discouraging children from attending school and instructing followers not to seek hospital treatment when ill.
According to Charo, those beliefs frequently caused disagreements between Harrison and his wife, who opposed the teachings.
He testified that Harrison later bought land in Shakahola and relocated there with his family.
Charo said he made three separate trips to Shakahola in search of his brother but was unable to trace him.
During one of the visits, he met Mackenzie and asked about Harrison's whereabouts but did not receive any information.
On his third trip, accompanied by another brother and his sister, police informed them that an exhumation exercise was underway and turned them away.
They were instead directed to a Kenya Red Cross help desk established to assist families searching for missing relatives following reports that people had died in Shakahola Forest.
Charo told the court that in 2025, he received a phone call informing him that Harrison had been spotted in Malindi in the company of another woman.
He travelled there in search of him but was informed that they had already relocated to Kwa Binzaro, a secluded homestead about 30 kilometres from Shakahola.
The prosecution's 27th witness said he later received a call from officers attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), informing him that DNA samples he had earlier submitted through the Kenya Red Cross matched one of the bodies recovered during the Kwa Binzaro exhumations.
The body was believed to be that of his brother, Harrison.
Another witness, Caroline Adhiambo, also recounted her unsuccessful attempts to save her husband and two children after, she said, her husband embraced Mackenzie's teachings.
She told the court that her husband stopped paying their children's school fees after regularly watching Mackenzie's sermons on television.
Sermons reportedly taught that children should not attend school and that sick people should not seek medical treatment because doing so was against God's plan.
Adhiambo testified that in 2025, her husband told her he was travelling to Homa Bay to resolve a family land dispute but instead left with two of their children.
She said that was the last time she saw them.
After he became unreachable by phone, she reported him missing to the police.
She later received information that the husband had been seen boarding a Mombasa-bound bus around the time he claimed he was travelling to Homa Bay.
After confirming the information with the bus company, she suspected that he had travelled to Shakahola.
Adhiambo told the court that on July 19, 2025, she received a phone call from a man who identified himself and informed her that a body matching her husband's description had been found.
She travelled to the scene and, after viewing the body, identified it as her husband's.
The Kwa Binzaro exhumations began in August 2025 after investigators discovered shallow graves at the site, with charges relating to the deaths filed in 2026.
After hearing testimonies from two more witnesses virtually, the court adjourned the matter until Thursday, July 23, when additional prosecution witnesses are expected to testify.
