DPP produces 88 post-mortem results in Pastor Mackenzie murder trial

New revelations continued to unfold at the Mombasa High Court on Tuesday in the ongoing murder trial against Pastor Paul Mackenzie and 30 co-accused, as the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) produced 88 post-mortem reports to corroborate how the victims died due to the preacher’s controversial teachings.

One of the witnesses, 60-year-old Titus Ngonyo Gandi revealed how he lost four family members in Shakahola due to Mackenzie's proclamations.

He told the court that he began noticing strange behaviour in 2019 when his wife, Esther Mbila, was opposed to their children receiving any form of education. 

Mbila, according to Gandi, also warned the neighbours against working for the government or acquiring any government-issued documents such as birth certificates, identity cards or academic certificates.

Gandi revealed that he has buried his wife, two children, including a GSU officer, one grandchild and his daughter-in-law, during the Shakahola incident. 

Further, a second witness, 23-year-old Robert Kithi pointed out how he escaped Shakahola forest in 2023 after Mackenzie instructed them to begin fasting in preparation to ascend to heaven. 

Kithi noted that Mackenzie's followers were told that the rapture would occur three years after 2021, with many believers relocating to the forest. 

Opposed to the starvation directive, Kithi stated that he fled from the forest. He, however, noted that he buried his two siblings in November, with his mother denying him the chance to retrieve the bodies, saying that they had ascended to heaven. 

A third witness, DCI officer Paul Oguta, produced 88 post-mortem results from investigations he had carried out. 

“I was assigned to take the post-mortem of the victims who had died at Malindi Mortuary, and others were assigned to conduct exhumation,” Oguta noted. 

The prosecution continues to build its case against the controversial pastor and his co-accused, who face charges linked to the deaths of over 191 people in the Shakahola forest.