The Shanzu court has learned that renowned preacher Paul Mackenzie praised followers who were starving to death as heroes.
Raphael Wanjohi, the chief investigator into the Shakahola massacre, presented court records before senior principal magistrate Yusuf Shikanda that claim Mackenzie held wedding-like funeral rites for those who passed away while fasting.
He also encouraged the remaining people to maintain fasting and honoured the deceased as unsung shujaas (heroes).
“Mackenzie presided over the funerals, referring to them as harusi (weddings) and the departed as shujaas. These facts support the prosecution’s case against Mackenzie and his cronies, according to the papers.
In the records, Wanjohi also said that some of the survivors had undergone behavioural changes, including quitting eating and shaving their heads.
Wanjohi testified to the court that Mackenzie presided over meetings with his ‘tight cabinet’ and insisted on regulations that established a hierarchy of how the intermittent fasting process was done, while also emphasising that the information was collected from the victims who experienced the heartbreaking occurrence.
According to those who have experienced it, the troubled preacher predicted that children would fast first, followed by youth, women, and adults until the last kid perished from famine. He would then be the last to fast after the guys and pass away.
The survivors also said that Mackenzie’s supporters severely thrashed anyone who broke their fast and oversaw them violently.
“Some of those who were survivors show altered demeanour, have shaved their heads, and are telling rehearsed accounts of what happened in the forest. Some have objected to being offered food, medicine, and documents to sign, the speaker said.