Pastor Paul Mackenzie Freed and Re-Arrested In Malindi
Paul Mackenzie, a controversial preacher, was released on Tuesday only to be re-arrested shortly after his arraignment before a Malindi court, along with six others.
The preacher who is being investigated for the Shakahola Massacre, in which over 109 people are suspected of starving to death, will now appear in court with his co-accused.
According to Judge Ivy Wasike, the Malindi court lacks jurisdiction to hear their bail application. The prosecution had previously urged the courts to close the files of Mackenzie and his co-accused so that the seven could face terrorism charges in Shanzu.
The seven are likely to face Terrorism Act charges for radicalization. As of Thursday evening, the seventh day of the exhumation operation, the body count from the deadly starvation cult stood at 109, with more expected to be discovered as the exercise progresses.
The Good News International church preacher is no stranger to controversy and run-ins with the law. The preacher and two other people were charged in 2017 with providing Basic Education in an unregistered institution. The three later agreed to a plea bargain with the ODPP, were released by the trial court, and were ordered to be good citizens.
On October 17, 2017, Mackenzie was charged with four counts. The charges against him included radicalization and failing to enroll his children in compulsory primary and secondary school. He pleaded not guilty and was acquitted on October 29, 2021.
READ; Pastor Mckenzie Cult
Mackenzie was charged with three counts on April 11, 2019, including incitement to disobey the law and possessing and distributing films to the public that had not been examined and approved by the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB).
In this case, he pleaded not guilty once more. The case is scheduled for a defense hearing on June 26 of this year.
Mackenzie was mentioned in five different criminal applications. In 2017, he and 20 others were detained for seven days on the grounds that they were to conduct investigations into child radicalization after being discovered with 73 children in a church.
The other four stemmed from ongoing Shakahola investigations, one of which linked Mackenzie to the murder of two children in Shakahola. That application was later rejected due to a lack of merit.
Other applications sought the exhumation of the remains of 14 unknown bodies, while another sought the exhumation of the 800-acre Shakahola property.
Mackenzie’s Good News International Church was also involved in a child protection and care matter in October 2017, a criminal case in March 2019, and a criminal application involving three individuals heard on Thursday.
