Controversial preacher Paul Makenzi allegedly used the Good News International Church to radicalise followers through distorted biblical preaching, a Shanzu court was told.
While testifying on the final day of the hearing, shortly before the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) closed the case, one of the investigators into the Shakahola cult-like activities claimed that Makenzi used media platforms—including Times Television, which was shut down in 2019 for airing extremist content—YouTube channels, seminars, crusades and WhatsApp groups to spread his ideology and recruit followers.
Chief Inspector Raphael Wanjohi told Shanzu Principal Magistrate Leah Juma that Makenzi used his church to manipulate followers, compelling them to sever ties with society, abandon education, reject healthcare, and withdraw from state institutions.
He further told the court that indoctrination intensified between 2020 and 2023, during which parents were persuaded to remove their children from school and relocate them to Shakahola under false pretences. “Makenzi acquired 480 acres of land in Shakahola, subdivided it into villages with biblical names, and imposed a rigid command structure enforced by guards, overseers, grave diggers and cooks, all under his direct authority,” Wanjohi said.
He also confirmed that 426 bodies had been exhumed from the forest, with the actual death toll believed to be higher, many of them children.
Medical and forensic evidence presented by the prosecution established that starvation, initially voluntary but later enforced, was the primary cause of death, with women and children targeted first.
The officer was testifying in a case in which Makenzi and 96 others are charged with radicalisation and organised crime-related offences at the Shanzu Law Court. He was among the final witnesses to testify on Thursday, shortly before the prosecution closed its case against Makenzi and the other accused.
The DPP further stated that the matter had involved a painstaking, evidence-heavy trial phase that laid bare an elaborate, long-running scheme of religious radicalisation, culminating in one of Kenya’s gravest tragedies.
Since proceedings began on July 8, 2024, the prosecution had produced a total of 96 witnesses, including survivors, medical experts, forensic specialists and investigators, along with close to 500 exhibits.
This was the second matter against Makenzi to be closed by the prosecution, following the DPP’s closure of crimes against children at Tononoka Children’s Court in September 2025.
The murder trial before Justice Diana Mochache is scheduled to resume from January 12, 20226 to 23.
