Makenzi told his followers Jesus would not return because they were 'unclean'

A police officer testified before the High Court in Mombasa that controversial preacher Paul Makenzi told his followers in Shakahola forest, Kilifi County, that they were unclean to meet Jesus.

Chief Inspector Peter Kamau told Justice Diana Mochache that Makenzi told his followers Jesus was not coming because they were unclean, and that they had to fast and die to meet him.

“In the year 2022 Makenzi announced that Jesus was not coming back as Jesus had revealed to him that if he came back, he would find them unholy and they were to offer their bodies as sacrifices by fasting to death,” said Makenzi. 

The officer said that Makenzi had initially told the masses that they were supposed to fast for a period of 1260 days in Shakahola that they referred to as the wilderness.

Makenzi soon gave an order of fasting whereby children were to begin, followed by women and men would be the last ones to die. 

The officer revealed that there were 211 cases of children below 18 years and 147 adults who starved.

Makenzi told his followers that they would only be safe to fast in Shakahola which is 70 kilometres from Malindi and far away from the reach of police andthe outside world.

Kamau told the judge that Makenzi had twisted the verses to mislead the followers.

Among the verses he quoted was Revelation 12:1-6, which describes a woman running away from dragon after giving birth to a baby.

“According to the verse, they were to stay in the wilderness for 1260 days. The wilderness was Shakahola and the woman running away from the dragon was his church. Having identified themselves as the 'chosen' they wanted where they would establish a secure place where they would not have interference,” said Kamau.

In Shakahola, Makenxi divided the villages into biblical villages that included Galilea, Judea Sidonia and Capernaum where the houses were built of mud and grass and the women were not supposed to plait hair.

Kamau said that Makenzi closed the church in Malindi in 2019 and relocated to Shakahola where he called the church ‘Kanisa Jangwani.’ (the church in the wilderness)

According to Inspector Onyango Owade, there was cooking ongoing in Shakahola for the men who were expected to be the last ones to fast after children and women had died.

He said that 216 adults and 209 children died from the fast. 

Owade said that Makenzi periodically came to supervise if the followers were fasting until their death.

Owade said one Adonija Asika who is still at large was a cook at Shakahola. Who cooked for those offering essential services including security people and grave diggers.

“As children fasted, women ate and that is why there was the aspect of cooking,” said Owade.

During the re-examination of Owade by Makenzi’s lawyer Lawrence Obonyo, it was established that some of the witnesses had gone to Shakahola to buy land for farming.

Obonyo said that those living in Shakahola were rearing chicken and rabbits.

It was revealed that Makenzi had in 2011 been charged with offering basic education in unregistered institutions and wasconvicted on his own plea of guilty and fined sh.20,000.

Owade said that in 2019 Makenzi was charged with radicalisation in Malindi, incitement of in-obedience to the law and distribution of materials. He was however acquitted.

He was again charged in Malindi Law Courts with being in possession of materials not distributed, having a filming studio without license.

In a twist of events, one of Makenzi’s disciples in charge of security said that he will testify against Makenzi in a self-implicating testimony to the Judge.

Enos Amanya had written several letters to Justice Mochache seeking to testify against Makenzi and 90 co-accused. 

“He had written a bundle of letters with heavy implications. There was a lot of issues that had been omitted that implicated him as a security risk. He was crying to be helped. So he either is confessing or not,” said Justice Mochache.

The state prosecution applied to have Amanya record a fresh self-implicating confession before a chief inspector.

The prosecution said that his confession, recorded before Senior Resident Magistrate David Odhiambo was not implicating Amanya at all.

“The 33-page confession has zero implication fact from the 7th accused (Amanya), despite complying with the confession act it is not a confession and does not implicate him but his co-accused.

Justice Mochache ordered that Amanya be presented before a chief inspector of police and if not, he be presented as an accused person to continue with the case.