Ruth Kadzo co-founded Paul Mackenzie church Good News International lost 7 members to the cult

The co-founder of the Good News International Church's family, who may have lost seven relatives in Shakahola, is accusing Malindi police of ignoring several concerns concerning the church's operations.

The extended family of Ruth Kadzo, the original founder of the religion, claims they repeatedly alerted authorities to the danger to the people they cherished within the cult, but they did nothing.

They claimed to have been expelled from the denomination when the contentious preacher Paul Mackenzie overthrew the clergy and converted his sermons into cultic practises.

Kadzo, who is 80 years old, attended other family members to the Malindi sub-county mortuary, where they had been asked to provide samples of their DNA to help determine if her daughter's, grandkids, and great-grandchild's remains were kept there.

While Mackenzie is now the only person connected to Kadzo's co-founded Good News International Church, Kadzo claims that this wasn't always the case.

One of Kadzo's kids and a former church member, Samuel Kapathe, revealed the church's modest beginnings on their property in Kisumu Ndogo, Malindi town.

He said that in the early 2000s, Mackenzie and his mother co-founded the church.

"Alianza hapa mama, waliojiunga nao akiwemo Paul Mackenzie, wakaendelea kukua na tukawapa nafasi, hapa nje jinsi ushirika ulivokuwa," said Kapathe.

When Mackenzie began to advocate ideas that went against the family's values, Samuel claims that their relationship quickly deteriorated.

"Mackenzie alianza kufunza kwamba kusuka nywele ni dhambi, simu ni dhambi, masomo ni dhambi, kinyume na jinsi sisi tulivolelewa," he said.

Soon after, Mackenzie departed and moved to the Furunzi neighbourhood of Malindi, where he established the church's headquarters, which continued to practise its disputed doctrine until 2019 when it was forced to close down.

Samuel claims that his sister and her husband, Mary and Smith, remained in the denomination and rigorously adhered to its doctrines when the rest of the family departed.

The family of Mary, who is missing along with her five children and one grandson, accuses the police of being inactive.

"Mimi mwenyewe nilienda kupiga report Malindi mara mbili, ndugu yangu pia akaenda kupiga report, hata kuna wakati mwingine tukamchukua mama yetu aende kupiga ripoti kuongeza uzito lakini polisi wakasema ni mambo ya imani ya watiu wazima," Samuel recounted.

This family is now focusing its attention and resources on learning precisely what transpired to their relatives, who could've gone to the house of worship-turned-cult that was founded by them, while the law enforcement officials in the area remain to be accused of failing to intervene.