Video clips related to the Shakahola forest cult, linked to controversial pastor Paul Makenzie, were shown in court for the first time, revealing numerous malnourished followers unable to escape from police during a raid.
The footage depicts women lying helplessly in thickets, unable to stand or walk as authorities searched Chakama Ranch for the graves of two missing children.
Chief Inspector Sawe Kigen presented additional videos documenting the exhumation of bodies from shallow graves in Shakahola Forest. In one clip, authorities uncovered seven bodies from a single grave.
Kigen reported that the exhumation process began on April 21, 2023. “On May 10, 2023, we recovered 69 bodies. We distinguished between the bodies retrieved from the forest and those exhumed,” Kigen stated.
The clips also indicate that followers of the Good News International (GNI) church intended to establish large-scale irrigation farming in Chakama Ranch.
Inspector Kigen informed the court about a sizable dam located near Makenzie’s mud and makuti-thatched houses, which appeared designed for irrigation and livestock watering.
A video captured from a police helicopter displayed the dam, labeled “Makenzie Dam,” filled with water, though the source of the water and who excavated the dam remain unclear.
Makenzie’s homestead stood apart from other structures and all 265 homesteads of the faithful featured water pans. The makuti-thatched houses were poorly constructed from mud, with many lacking doors.
Outside several homesteads, videos revealed loose red soil along with plantations of soya beans and other legumes like cowpeas. Detectives indicated that beneath the soya beans and loose soil lay mass graves.
Chief Inspector Kigen explained that the graves were situated near what he termed fasting canopies, speculating that the planting of cowpeas helped conceal the graves.
“Ninety sites were exhumed. Initially, we relied on intelligence reports, but later conducted a random search. Community members from the village assisted in the search, though I am not aware if they were vetted,” Kigen said.
Senior Sgt. Livingstone Lihanda from the DCI added, “Some areas had loose soil but no graves or bodies; however, the camouflage came from where they had planted soya beans over the bodies.”
Lihanda, a leading forensic expert from the DCI, testified before the Mombasa Chief Magistrate in the case against Makenzie and 92 others, who face manslaughter charges related to the deaths of over 450 individuals.
