MALINDI, Kenya, Jul 21 – A prosecution witness on Monday told a court hearing the Shakahola manslaughter case how his father’s devotion to the teachings of Pastor Paul Mackenzie led him to resign from the Kenya Prisons Service before the family disappeared.
The witness, Japheth Lennox, was among four additional witnesses who testified in the ongoing manslaughter trial against Pastor Paul Mackenzie and his co-accused Shallyne Temba, Kahindi Garama, Tom Mkonwe, Julius Luwali and Johnson Richard.
The six are jointly facing 29 counts of manslaughter over the alleged deaths of 29 people between January and July 2025 at Kwa Binzaro Village in Chakama Location, Magarini Sub-County, Kilifi County.
Appearing virtually before Senior Principal Magistrate Eric Wambo, Lennox told the court that his family first encountered Mackenzie’s teachings through broadcasts on Times TV while they were living in Migori County.
According to the witness, the sermons warned followers against receiving the “mark of the beast,” discouraged them from seeking medical treatment by teaching that illnesses should only be healed through prayer, and portrayed formal education as part of a corrupt worldly system.
Lennox testified that in 2021, his father, Seth, resigned from the Kenya Prisons Service after embracing the teachings.
“He believed he could not serve both the beast and the Lord,” the witness told the court.
Lennox said his father later invited him to relocate to Shakahola with the rest of the family, but he declined because he considered himself too young.
He further testified that in March 2025, while he was in Homa Bay County, his parents informed him they were relocating to Kisii. However, when he attempted to contact his father the following month, the phone was unreachable.
The witness told the court that in June 2025 he received an anonymous phone call from a person with a coastal accent who told him, “They have left us,” which he interpreted to mean that his parents and siblings had died.
He said he has neither seen nor heard from his family since then.
Lennox also testified that investigators from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) later informed him that DNA samples he had provided matched some of the bodies recovered from the Shakahola mass graves.
The prosecution also called Meresia Adhiambo Juma and Titus Omondi, who is Seth’s elder brother, to testify before the court.
The prosecution is expected to call additional witnesses as the hearing continues.
The Shakahola case remains one of Kenya’s most significant criminal trials, arising from investigations into deaths linked to Pastor Mackenzie’s religious teachings in Kilifi County.