Controversial preacher to close down church

Controversial Malindi Pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge at the Malindi chief Magistrates court on Monday 6, May, 2019. He is facing three counts of incitement to disobedience of the law. [Nehemiah Okwembah/Standard]

Sometime in 2003, Pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge started the Good News International church in Malindi.

Sixteen years later, the man of the cloth continues to raise eyebrows with his teachings and for that, he has found himself in trouble with the law.

In 2017 together with his wife Joys Mwikamba, they appeared before Malindi Chief Magistrate Dr Julie Oseko where they pleaded not guilty to a charge of promoting radicalisation.

In May 2019, Mackenzie was charged before the same court, this time with disobedience of the law, religious incitement and indoctrination of children.

He denied the charges.

According to the charges, the pastor was on April 4 in Malindi township, found in possession of cinematographic films intended to incite children against attending school.

Further, the court heard, the films incited Christians against Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam.

In the second count, he was charged with being in possession and distributing films to the public which had not been examined and classified by the Kenya Films Classification Board.

The court heard that between January 1, 2019 and April 11 at Good News International Church (GNIC) in Malindi, jointly with others not before court, he was found showing films to the public that had not been examined and classified.

He was also charged with operating a filming studio and producing films without valid film licence from KFCB.

The pastor was released on a Sh1 million bond with an alternative of Sh500,000 cash bail.

In a phone interview, yesterday Pastor Mackenzie told The Standard that he was closing the ministry together with the Good News International Church digital TV as he had already delivered the message that God had sent him to deliver.

 “The message has already been delivered and I am closing the ministry together with the TV station by the end of November,” he said.