How Makenzi used WhatsApp to direct followers after church was closed

Controversial preacher Paul Makenzi with his lawyer at Mombasa Law Courts during the hearing of the Shakahola masacre case. [File, Standard] A series of text messages exclusively obtained by the Sunday Standard has given a sneak preview of the life in the wild led by one of Kenya's most controversial preachers Paul Nthenge Makenzi. The text messages, mostly from his followers and some of his replies, were recently tabled in court in one of the cases Makenzi faces. The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) closed his case against Makenzie on Friday. In the case which began in July 24 last year, the preacher was charged alongside 35 others with crimes against children. The team lead by Assistant DPP Jami Yamina, Principal Prosecution Counsels Victor Owiti and Betty Rubia, and Prosecution Counsels Biasha Khalifa and Eunice Odongo, called a total 75 witnesses to support its case on denial of the right to education and torture which were all claimed to have happened in Shakahola. In the case, several documents were presented as evidence before Tononoka Children's Court magistrate Nelly Chepchirchir. The 37 are also facing separate murder, manslaughter and terrorism charges at the Mombasa and Shanzu Law Courts. The WhatsApp messages show a legion of followers caught up in his sermons to the point of following blindly his directives, no matter how dangerous or harmful they were. Mackenzie and his followers have in court denied all the charges. They alleged that public pronouncements by senior government officials in both mainstream and social media was anything to go by, the State's intention was not to expedite the hearing but to punish them indefinitely; and that no public interest would be served by having long and arduous proceedings that would be confusing to all parties. By the time the alleged cult was discovered, some 400 people had died in the hands of the preacher, even though not directly. After his arrest, several items, including phones, were recovered from the preacher and some of his associates. Police investigations focused on the controversial preacher's phones - an Itel and Nokia. In the Nokia phone, the officers were interested in words such as njangwani (wilderness), education or masomo, shamba (farm), fasting or kufunga, end time, the beast, prophecy, anti-Christ, new world order and the biblical number of the beast, 666. The series of communications now presented as evidence before the court, Makenzi and his followers were allegedly discussing the end times. In the conversations, they talked of God's revelation of them going to the wilderness to wait upon Him. "Mtumishi uko wapi siku hizi? (Servant of God, where are you nowadays)" One of his followers asks through WhatsApp. Makenzi responds, Niko Jangwani (I am in the wilderness). Another followed up with an affirmation that they were indeed going to the wilderness. The reply to it was that it was in fact, very fast. The conversations were around COVID-19 lockdown. In the same Nokia phone, there is another follower who asked where the church was, as the television channel had been switched off. The answer was that it was in the wilderness. Following the closure of his TV station, it appears that Makenzi and his followers moved to WhatsApp. In an announcement dubbed tangazo maalum, it emerged that they created the group on April 15, 2019. The forum was named ukumbi was the final trumpet. From the communication, there were several other groups basically set up for 'spreading injilli.' The administrators were required to close the groups, as their time had come to an end, just as the alleged prophecy for the television. "Admin wote was zile group zingine wameombwa kufunga hizo group bila kucheleweshwa. Kazi ya kumbi hizi zimeisha (all the administrators should close the groups without delay. The forums' work has ended)," the notice read, adding that those with questions ought to call Evans or Morris. Those who were with Thomas were supposed to reach out to Makenzi. There was also a group with George. The messenger indicated as Baba Brenda urged them to humble themselves and not to trouble the servants. In one of the rare instances where the preacher replied to several messages sent by his followers, one of the senders says that it was about two years since Makenzi preached on TV in a message sent on May 10, 2021 at 6:16pm. In a reply sent three minutes later, Makenzi is calm despite the insult in the text message and he says that he took the decision to close down the TV station. In another message, the followers were urged to stay put in the wilderness and not to fear, as they would allegedly forget all the troubles after their journey. Some of his followers were however raising questions on the Jangwani issue. Kijana Mureithi, wrote that in Makenzi's volume six, which was aired by his Times TV, he had informed them about the church being in the wilderness. Mureithi added that at the time, they were all living in houses. He queried why Makenzi had changed, to now tell them that if they were under a roof, they were not in the wilderness. He further asked if the wilderness's meaning had changed. Makenzi replied that he said that they had started the wilderness's life. According to the reply, the message was that wilderness journey was a continuous thing. There was also talks about being in hideouts in a forest. Mureithi pressed Makenzi on if anyone who was not with him in the forest could not enter heaven or complete the journey. He responded that he was on the course of his own journey and could not judge anyone who was not in the wilderness. It appears that Mureithi was out to get clarity from Makenzi. He shot another question regarding wilderness. According to him, jangwa meant that food and water were scarce. He continued to argue that they were getting water and food out of work but now, Jesus was requiring them to leave their workplaces. He asked if they were to rely on faith to get same whether in their houses or in the wilderness. The controversial pastor cautioned him to understand that the issues of the spirit are different from others. He asked him to stop sticking to (Babeli) Babylon while claiming it was a wilderness. He also asked about the pastor's message that he ought to live with his mother on the basis that he would persevere suffering. Mureithi claimed that the pastor informed him that even if he was to be killed, either in the house of wilderness over his faith, then it would be fine. He intimated that his mother had a problem with him not eating. He termed the food as "vyakula vya sumu" (poisoned food). On the flip side, he said, Makenzi then told him that Jesus was using his mother to feed him, but the only condition was to refuse taking poisoned food. Mureithi further told him that his aunt had a different perspective. The response was that the aunt was not his mother. The other issue Mureithi had was leaving the house. He asked if going to the forest was the only way of leaving Babylon. The pastor said Indeed, it is. Mureithi had more questions. On June 10, 2021, he asked Makenzi if he was shot or burned to death because of the gospel while in town and living in a house, would he end up in hell as he did not live in the wilderness. Another follower from expressed his amazement about a dream he allegedly had about one of them who was in Malindi, asking him to join him in a house without a window or door to wait for Jesus. He claimed that he saw children from Malindi had a lot of energy, even infants who were breastfeeding. He claimed they were climbing a mountain without being held. He asked for Makenzi's interpretation. Makenzi responded that the energy was only granted to the chosen ones at the end times but insisted that the 'chosen ones of Malindi' were somewhere hiding to consecrate themselves. In another explanation to a dream, he indicated that there were others who were joining the desert albeit late. In the meantime, another communication was about children loitering in Chakama. The was alleged that one boy had informed Chakama residents that he had come from 'jangwani kwa Makenzi'. In the message, parents were being discouraged from letting their children to leave without a specific engagement. He also got a forwarded message that he had become too much. Here he slowly built a cult following where he preached the gospel of fasting to death as the highway to heaven. By the time the cult was discovered some 400 people had died and some more reported missing, with the identities of some of the bodies exhumed not known yet since they are yet to undergo DNA tests.

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