Controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie has been re-arrested along with six others after being released on bail. Mackenzie is being investigated for the Shakahola Massacre, where over 109 people are suspected of starving to death. The group will appear at the Shanzu court to face charges under the Terrorism Act for radicalization. The body count from the deadly starvation cult as of Thursday evening stood at 109 with more expected to be discovered.
Mackenzie's legal troubles began in 2017 when he and two others were charged with providing basic education in an unregistered institution. The three entered into a plea bargain with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and were discharged by the trial court with orders to be of good behaviour.
On October 17, 2017, Mackenzie was arraigned on four counts, including radicalization and failing to take his children to compulsory primary and secondary school. He pleaded not guilty and was acquitted on October 29, 2021.
On April 11, 2019, Mackenzie was charged with three counts, including incitement to disobedience of the law and being in possession of and distributing films to the public which had not been examined and approved by the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB). He again pleaded not guilty, and the matter is coming up for defence hearing on June 26, 2023.
Mackenzie was mentioned in five separate miscellaneous criminal applications. One in 2017 saw him and 20 others held for seven days on the grounds that they were to carry out investigations for the radicalization of children after they were found with 73 children in a church.
The other four applications emanated from the ongoing Shakahola investigations, including one that connected Mackenzie to the murder of two children in Shakahola. That application was later dismissed for lack of merit. The other applications were for the exhumation of remains of 14 unknown bodies, while another application allowed for the exhumation of the 800-acre Shakahola land.
In October 2017, Mackenzie's Good News International Church was involved in a children protection and care matter. Additionally, the church was involved in a criminal case in March 2019, and a criminal application involving three individuals was heard on Thursday.
Mackenzie's recent legal troubles are the most serious to date. The Shakahola Massacre investigation is ongoing, and the group's appearance in court on terrorism charges could result in a lengthy prison sentence.