Shakahola horror: Parents watched children starve to death for 'spiritual reward'

Children who died in the Shakahola massacre died cruelly at the hands of their parents and gatekeepers who were following starve-to-death orders issued by cult leader Paul Makenzi.

Over 190 children died through starvation, strangulation, suffocation and asphyxia, with features of starvation.

Speaking during the delivery of the murder verdict at the Mombasa High Court, Justice Diana Mochache said that the parents of the deceased children celebrated the death of their children rather than mourning.

‘’The death of their kids was seen as an obstacle to be achieved rather than being opposed. Starvation became the way to heaven as parents watched their children die as a profit of spiritual reward," said Mochache.

The departed children were celebrated as heroes of faith, and those who refused to fast were beaten. In her ruling, Justice Mochache said that parents neglected their parental duties of protecting children.

‘’Parents would cook and eat and watch their kids starve,’’ said Mochache.

Harry Ngonyo and Seth Hinzano Ngala, children of an ex-GSU officer, Issac Ngala, have been listed as among the children who died in a cruel situation inside the expansive Shakahola forest in March 2023.

Other children who died in the massacre are Samuel Kirimi, 7, and Hellen Karimi, 9. The two had moved into the forest with their mother, Bahati Juan, and four other siblings who are yet to be identified through DNA.

A court order for the exhumation of the two siblings is what led to the discovery of mass graves in Shakahola.

During her ruling, Justice Mochache stated that the first accused person, Paul Makenzi, presented death as the only way of meeting the lord.

Despite using his sweet tongue in luring followers into the desert, Makenzi also forcefully enforced his teachings by punishing those who dared to defy his orders.

‘’The first accused person hired village elders and guards within the forest, and he would give orders stating that Mbinguni tutaenda ata kwa mangumi na mateke," said Mochache.

The judge said that in his defence, the accused persons said the children fasted voluntarily and that they were not forced. In her judgement, Mochache said Makenzi's Good News International Ministries was a cult.

The judge said that Makenzi used his main church in Furunzi and 25 other branches across the country to advance his end-times teachings.

When the cult leader closed his main church in Furunzi, he bought a piece of land in the Shakahola forest and named the place Jangwani. He told his followers that Jesus was going to meet them there.

"Makenzi deceived his followers with a sweet tongue and a listening ear when they first arrived in Shakahola Forest, something that later changed into a strict community where no one was allowed to leave," said Mochache.

In order to make his followers relocate inside the forest, the cult leader dug a large dam with 18,000 cubic metres, which could sustain all the households for a year.

It was a life filled with hope, but later deception crept in. It became a struggle for survival for hundreds of followers who had flocked into the Shakahola forest.

He invoked biblical teachings, including Colossians 2:8, James 3:13, Ecclesiastes 12 and Romans 8:5, among many biblical teachings, to depict worldly wisdom as foolishness.

The verse in Numbers 14:31 says, "Your children, however, whom you said would become prey—I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected."

Further, Makenzi Mathew 25:1-13 instructed his followers not to be like the five foolish virgins who failed to prepare, and they were locked out when the groom arrived.

Like all powerful speakers, Makenzi’s greatest asset was his ability to determine what listeners wanted to hear and give it to them in simple language that appealed to them on an almost instinctual level.

With the cadence and fervour of a Baptist preacher, the charm and folksiness of a country storyteller, and the zeal and fury of a maniacal dictator, Makenzi led his followers to their early graves.

Many followers were drawn to his cause by his soulful delivery and Pentecostal preaching style.

Makenzi painted himself as modern Moses, who would save his people by leading them to the promised land through starvation.