Shakahola cult pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie demands quality food and mattresses in police cells

Shakahola cult pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie behind bars.

Now that he and his accomplices are being detained at a number of police stations around the coastal area, suspected Shakahola cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie is asking the government to offer him, his wife Rhoda Mumbua, and 18 of his assistants' beds and nutritious food.

Mackenzie fought valiantly before Shanzu senior principal magistrate Yusuf Shikanda, who extended the accused's detention by 30 more days, via his solicitors George Kariuki, Wycliffe Makasembo, and Elisha Komora.

The legal team explained to the court that the people they represented were compelled to spend the night on nothing but the ground and that they were concerned that the cold weather might cause them to get pneumonia.

"My customers have been resting on bare cement floors; they have informed us that they are experiencing rib problems, and their lungs are already moist."

"They probably have symptoms of pneumonia, and they will pass away before the case ever gets started," Kariuki added.

Shakahola cult pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie's wife detained

Kariuki additionally said that the accused were being deprived of food as a kind of vengeance for the alleged starvation of their victims.

"They are being given ugali along with some kind of liquid that is ineligible to be dubbed bean soup." "I've seen the cuisine firsthand," he bemoaned.

Additionally, Kariuki asked the court to direct the police to turn over more than Ksh150,000 that had been taken from Mackenzie's wife during her incarceration but was now missing.

"Let the magistrate order require the submission of the said money and its location, and once the sum in question has been provided, issue orders for us to be authorised to make use of this money for the purchase of high-quality meals and bedding for those who live in the cells we are able to afford," he added.

However, senior principal prosecutor counsel Yamina Jamii observed that the accused individuals were being housed in a more conducive location in his response to Mackenzie's appeal.

"I have no idea if the magistrate's office is in an advantageous position to order a mattress and high-quality food, and as an argument of actuality, where the accused individuals are being detained is much nicer than Shakahola," he remarked.