Controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie is still in active communication with his followers despite being in prison, the government has revealed.
While linking Mackenzie to the discovery of human skulls at Kwa Binzaro in Kilifi, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen disclosed that the preacher still kept tabs with his followers, compounding efforts to contain the religious extremism prevalent at the Kenyan Coast.
“One of the rescued persons told the DCI that Mackenzie called him from the cells and prayed for him through the phone. So you can see how rampant this case of religious radicalisation is,” Murkomen said during a media engagement.
Ahead of a planned exhumation exercise at Kwa Binzaro, Murkomen noted that despite concerted efforts by the State, Mackenzie’s influence was still strong, putting vulnerable groups such as children at huge risk.
This is especially after the majority of the bodies recently discovered at Kwa Binzaro were those of children, with detectives adding that the bodies were found either buried in shallow graves or disposed of to be devoured by animals in the forest.
Mackenzie is currently in prison, being held in remand over the Shakahola massacre, with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) linking him to the discovery of approximately 400 bodies at Shakahola.
Mackenzie has denied involvement in the new cult, despite one of the arrested individuals in connection with the cult being suspected of being a member of his church.
Speaking through his lawyer, Wycliffe Makasembo, the preacher, who is currently embroiled in the gripping court case over the massacre, denied any involvement in religious radicalisation that emerged in Kwa Binzaro.
“Claims are emerging that one of those arrested was a believer (of Mackenzie), but for now, those are all matters under investigation. So, for now, I cannot fully ascertain whether one was a member of his (Mackenzie’s) church,” Makasembo stated.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had pitched camp in the area after the discovery of the shallow graves, with the sleuths believing the site might have been used by a fasting-to-death cult.
Initial findings and evidence suggested that the bodies might have been buried there between March and July this year.
The latest comes after Mackenzie was believed to have killed 191 people between January 2021 and September 2023 in the Shakahola area, Malindi Sub-County, Kilifi County, through his cult.
The horrifying scale of the massacre began to emerge in March–April 2023, when police, acting on tip-offs, reportedly from local media and human rights activists, discovered shallow graves and emaciated individuals in the forest.
Among the victims were 11 known children, 82 unidentified male children, 72 unidentified female children, and 26 children whose gender is not known.
