Paul Mackenzie has been found guilty of being in possession and distributing films which have not been classified and operating a filming studio without a valid filming licence.
Senior Resident Magistrate Olga Onalo found Mackenzie guilty of conducting an exhibition of films to the public through Times Television without the approval of the Kenya Film Classification Board.
He was charged with operating a filming studio and producing films without a valid filming licence from the Kenya Classification Board contrary to Section 4 Films and Stage Play Act Cap 222 laws of Kenya.
Onalo further found him guilty of being in possession and distributing Films which have not been classified contrary to Section 12 of the Films and Stage Plays Act Cap 222.
Makenzie committed both offences jointly with others not before the court on 11 January 2019 and April 11, 2019, at Good News International Church in Malindi Township, Malindi Subcounty, within Kilifi County.
In her ruling, Onalo stated that the prosecution through Senior Prosecution Counsel Joseph Mwangi and Prosecution Counsel Kennedy Kirui proved the case against Mackenzie beyond any reasonable doubt.
The court ruled that the accused failed to dislodge himself from the evidence of the four prosecution witnesses and exhibits including videos of Mackenzie’s radical preaching.
The court ruled that Mackenzie admitted that Times Television belonged to his church, Good News International where the detective recovered DVD films containing sermons on end-time items in his office.
“Once again in the DVDs watched in court, the court found one titled "Ndoto Obama Coming Edited" and the broadcast started with the title "watch end time messages every" he added that he knows his end time messages are on YouTube and that it is he who uploaded them,” Onalo said.
“He needed a license which he did not have to do and he needed to have the same taken for examination but he failed to do so. I thus find the defence tendered in lieu of the foregoing, not to have dislodged the prosecution case,”
The matter has been scheduled for mention on December 1, with the court granting the prosecution leave to file submissions on sentencing.
The court also ordered that a pre-sentence report be filed by the Probation and Aftercare Services to capture the sentiments of the complainant, which is the Prosecution.
