The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is investigating the criminal records of Paul Mackenzie, a cult leader, to determine whether there was any misconduct by the officers who handled his cases in 2017. In a statement, the JSC confirmed that it is examining the records to ensure that its officers followed due diligence while handling Mackenzie's cases.
Pastor Paul Mackenzie of the Good News International Church during an interview with the ‘Nation’ in Kilifi County on March 24, 2023.
The JSC is responsible for handling disciplinary issues and leadership in the judiciary, and it is committed to upholding the constitution and the rule of law in the administration of justice. Mackenzie was first charged with radicalisation, offering education in unregistered institutions, and failing to provide his children with compulsory primary and secondary education. In 2019, he, along with a few of his followers, faced other charges of child neglect.
The complaints against Mackenzie and his co-accused were discussed by stakeholders in the justice chain, led by the then Presiding Judge at the Malindi Law Courts, under the auspices of the Kilifi County Court Users Committee (CUC), in its quarterly meeting of November 2019. The CUC discussed the issue of radicalisation of children by Mackenzie through his church and TV station. The issue was escalated to the National Government Implementation Committee and the Communications Authority. The TV station's licence was revoked by the Communications Authority.
In Malindi Criminal Case No. 182 of 2017, Mackenzie was charged alongside Winne Alexander Gandi and Betty Mwaka, with offering basic education in an unregistered institution. They entered into a plea bargain with the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and were discharged by the trial court and ordered to be of good behaviour. In another case - Malindi Criminal Case No. 790 of 2017 - Mackenzie was charged with radicalisation, promoting an extreme belief system for purposes of facilitating the use of ideology-based teachings to advance religious and social change.
Other charges included failing to take his child to compulsory primary and secondary education and failing to provide the right to education of a child. He pleaded not guilty, and the prosecution opposed his release on bail. The court then ordered that care and protection files be opened for the children, and a pre-bail report filed. Mackenzie was granted a Sh100,000 bail, with an alternative bond of Sh500,000 on October 19, 2017.
As a bail condition, he was required to report to the OCS Malindi each week. The court also ordered that the matter be heard on a priority basis as it was a public interest matter. The matter was heard and determined, and the accused were acquitted in October 2021.
In Malindi Criminal Case No. 366 of 2019, Mackenzie was charged with incitement to disobedience of the law. He was found with cinema topographic films intended to incite children against attending school and Christians against Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims.
He distributed this content to the public through Times Television, which had not been examined and classified by the Kenya Films Classification Board. He was also charged with operating a filming studio and producing films without a valid filming license from the Kenya Films Classification Board. Mackenzie pleaded not guilty and was granted a Sh500, 000 cash bail or Sh1 million bond, despite protests from the prosecution.
A defense hearing will take place on June 26. In Malindi Misc. Criminal Application No. 176 of 2017, the state applied to hold Mackenzie and 20 others for 30 days on grounds that they were to carry out investigations for the radicalisation of children after they were found with 73 children in a church, in what was believed to have been a radicalisation process.