Starting Monday, the high-profile trial concerning the starvation deaths of over 400 of his followers got underway in Mombasa, the port city in the Indian Ocean. Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, the leader of a doomsday cult in Kenya, made an appearance in court. Mackenzie, along with ninety-four other defendants, is accused of murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, and torturing minors in addition to facing terrorism accusations.
A gruesome case that rocked the world saw nearly 400 of the followers of a Kenyan doomsday cult killed, and the leader of the group was put on trial for terrorism on Monday.
In Mombasa, a self-proclaimed pastor named Paul Nthenge Mackenzie appeared in court alongside 94 other defendants.
Reporters were asked to leave the courtroom soon after the hearing began so that a confidential witness could testify.
Mackenzie, who was arrested last April, is accused of encouraging his followers to starve themselves to “meet Jesus.”
He and his fellow defendants entered pleas of not guilty to terrorism charges during a January court session.
Additionally, they are charged separately with murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, and child abuse.
The “Shakahola forest massacre” has been named for the discovery of more than 440 people’s bodies thus far in a lonely wilderness located inland from the Indian Ocean coastal town of Malindi.
Although malnutrition seemed to be the primary cause of death, autopsies have revealed that some victims, including children, had been beaten, strangled, or suffocated.
Additionally, according to earlier court records, some of the bodies had had their organs removed.
Police have been accused of negligence
Mackenzie, once a taxi driver, surrendered on April 14 after police, acting on a tip-off, initially entered Shakahola forest, where mass graves were discovered.
Authorities began returning some victims’ remains to their bereaved families in March, following months of intensive work to identify them through DNA testing.
In spite of his high reputation and prior legal troubles, Mackenzie, a self-described pastor with a radical past, has drawn criticism for his ability to avoid detection.
Last year, Kenyan police were criticized by Interior Minister KithureKindiki of being too slow to look into the early accusations of famine.
He informed a senate committee hearing that the Shakahola massacre represents the most significant security lapse in our nation’s history, pledging to vigorously advocate for legal reforms to regulate rogue preachers.
In March, security personnel in Malindi were criticized by the government-backed Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) for their “gross abdication of duty and negligence”.
As a result of the horrifying tale, President William Ruto has promised to get involved in domestic religious organizations in Kenya.
In Kenya, which is predominantly Christian, it has also brought attention to the shortcomings of attempts to control dishonest churches and cults that have experimented with criminal activity.
