I disagreed with Makenzi due to his doctrines, co preacher tells court

A one time Good News International co preacher George Mwaura testifying before Justice Diana Mochache on December 10, 2025. [Kelvin Karani, Standard]

A one-time controversial preacher, Paul Makenzi’s co-preacher, has told the High Court that his fallout with Makenzi was over end-times dreams, which he described as evil dreams and doctrines that he was not comfortable with.

George Mwaura told the High Court that he challenged Makenzi on certain dreams, which included fasting while at Shakahola, saying he strongly disagreed and left Shakahola with his family.

He at some point revealed some guilt over preaching at Good News International’s Makongeni branch after his video while ‘preaching’, claiming that Mwaura at that time and the Mwaura who was testifying are two different people now.

He told the High Court that he was caught in a lying situation to the point of misinterpreting his dream to the congregants, though he told the High Court that he had repented.

It was Mwaura who was at one time the whistleblower of the happenings at Shakahola and told his daughter, Brenda Mwaura, who was also a witness, and posted it on Facebook tagging the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, raising suspicions of what exactly was happening in Shakahola.

His daughter, Brenda, in the Facebook post, claimed that Makenzi was killing people at Shakahola, and when she was testifying, she said it was her father who told her so.

However, Mwaura claimed that he told his daughter Brenda that Makenzi was killing people in Shakahola after he was also informed by some people he had left there when he disagreed and left, but said he did not witness any killings personally.

Mwaura told the High Court that Makenzi used to travel to Nairobi’s Makongeni church and stayed for a long time, and at one point brought a visitor who emphasised his preachings.

He said that Makenzi always preached on end times and at one time invited a white man called Jude, who emphasised Makenzi’s messages.

Mwaura was testifying in a matter where Makenzi and 29 others are charged with 191 counts of murder.

He told the High Court that some of the doctrines Makenzi preached included that school was evil, make-up for women was forbidden, and followers were to stop working and work for ‘God’.

He confirmed to the High Court that indeed his children dropped out of school because of Makenzi’s preaching. The church visitor, a white man he described as Jude, was brought to the church in 2019, after which Mwaura also resigned.

“I was working as a driver at Buscar and I went and resigned. In fact, Makenzi had brought a white man by the name of Jude, who emphasised Makenzi’s end-times preachings, and after that, there was a serious exodus of resignations,” Mwaura told the High Court.

Mwaura told Justice Mochache that when Makenzi closed his church at Furunzi, they were running away from what he termed the government’s plan to plant devices in people through the alleged Huduma number, but also they went there to farm.

He said that he was surprised when Makenzi started telling people that they were to fast for three and a half years, after which they would experience what he called the rapture.

“I personally approached Makenzi and some few people and challenged him, asking where it was written that people should fast to die so as to go to heaven. I realised he was having devil-like dreams and not what the Bible says, and that is when I took my family out of the Shakahola ‘nonsense’,” Mwaura told the High Court.

After testifying, Mwaura raised concerns about his safety, claiming that Makenzi’s followers are out there and that since he and his daughter have testified, they will be viewed as traitors.

However, Justice Mochache told him to raise an alarm immediately if any of the followers threaten them, and they will face the law.