65 people rescued from Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County were turned into suspects for attempted suicide while at Sajahanadi Rescue Centre in Mtwapa.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) on Monday, June 12, indicated that the suspects will be charged for attempting to kill themselves by absconding meals in solidarity with controversial pastor Paul Mackenzie.
The prosecution team, led by Jami Yamina and J.V. Owiti, made an application to have the suspects remanded in prison as the Rescue Centre could no longer hold them.
According to the ODPP, the 65 Mackenzie followers are slated to undergo mental and medical assessments in prison. Despite their determination to continue fasting, the suspects will also be forced to eat.
Shanzu Senior Principal Magistrate Joe Omido will rule on the prosecution's application on Thursday, June 15, after the suspects declined to take a plea.
Reports indicated that the suspects had turned violent and refused to eat while at the same time demanding to be set free.
On June 7, 2023, Mackenzie and his wife, Rhodah Mumbua, began a hunger strike in prison over Interior CS Kithure Kindiki's threats that the pastor would be locked up in prison for life.
Mackenzie lamented that he would not receive any justice if the government had already decided his fate.
"We need an assurance from Chief Justice Martha Koome that our client will get justice during this trial," Mackenzie's lawyer Wycliff Makasembo stated.
While addressing a Church Service at Kenya Assemblies of God in Sagana, Kirinyaga, on Sunday, June 4, Kindiki stated that controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie would be jailed for life as his crimes against humanity amounted to a lifetime sentence.
"Mackenzie will not get out of jail. He will age in it. We pray that God gives him more years to see Kenya's security prosper.
"He will not get out of jail... Mackenzie will meet the wrath of God after jail," Kindiki stated.
