In a heartbreaking account before the Mombasa High Court, a woman identified as V.M.M. delivered one of the most emotional testimonies in the ongoing Shakahola cult trial.
V.M.M. recounted the horrors she endured while living in the Shakahola forest under the influence of Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie’s Good News International (GNI).
“I lost all seven of my children,” V.M.M. told the court, her voice trembling.
She said the family was driven to starvation and deprived of water under Mackenzie’s directive.
She revealed that her introduction to GNI came via a Christian television channel, where sermons gradually became more extreme.
The court heard that Mackenzie’s teachings forbade followers from engaging in “worldly” activities, using makeup (“marembo”), seeking medical care, or sending children to school, as being contrary to God’s plan.
V.M.M. joined the GNI’s Bombolulu branch in Mombasa County, attending seminars in Tononoka, Bomu, and Malindi.
Even after the preacher’s TV station was shut down, indoctrination continued via a WhatsApp group.
Followers were later informed that land had been purchased in Shakahola, described as a divine wilderness.
“We were told to purchase land at Ksh 1,000 per acre,” she said.
V.M.M. paid for two acres and moved there with her husband and six children.
She gave birth to her seventh child in the forest.
Upon arrival, they were received by a man known as “Alex wa mashamba,” who directed them into temporary shelters and forbade the construction of permanent structures.
Their only water source was a dam later dubbed “Mackenzie Dam.”
Life in Shakahola was strictly controlled. Meetings were held among different GNI branches, but interaction with outsiders, called Mataifa (non-believers), was forbidden.
Followers were taught they were Wateule (the chosen ones), and mixing with outsiders was discouraged.
Several defendants were identified in court as leaders who enforced rules and indoctrination in Shakahola.
V.M.M. recounted being told to “crucify themselves” by abstaining from food and water, believing this would bring them closer to God.
“My neighbor Rey died after fasting,” she revealed.
“Crying at burials was prohibited. We were told these deaths were spiritual ‘weddings’, not mournful occasions.”
When families from outside came searching for missing loved ones, the court heard, the cult relocated followers deeper into the forest to avoid detection, prompted by suspicion when one GNI member from Yudea hosted a visitor.
After prolonged fasting weakened her, V.M.M. begged to leave. The response was brutal.
“They beat me until I lost consciousness,” she testified.
“When I woke, I found myself in Malindi Hospital, rescued.”
