Court watches chilling videos of Paul Mackenzie preaching against schools, medicine

The courtroom at Mombasa Law Courts fell silent on Tuesday as prosecutors played disturbing videos of preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie preaching to hundreds of followers, mostly women and children, urging them to shun schools, hospitals, and the modern world.

The videos, which the prosecution described as “deeply troubling evidence of manipulation and control,” captured Mackenzie warning his congregation that formal education was evil and that medicine defied God’s will.

Chief Inspector Sawe Kigen, a forensic expert testifying for the second time, told the court that the clips were recorded during gatherings of Mackenzie’s Good News International Church.

He said the sermons appeared designed to “strip followers of independent thought and replace it with fear.”

In one clip, Mackenzie declares: “Education takes children away from God. Let them stay home and learn the word of truth.”

The congregation erupts in cheers as a man stands and vows never to take his children to school again.

Another video shows Mackenzie pacing across the pulpit as he shouts, “There is no sickness in God’s kingdom. Medicine is the devil’s tool!”

A follower echoes the words, adding that believers who take medicine “lack faith.”

In yet another recording, a congregant claims to have renounced the Illuminati and displays a tattoo on his arm before the cheering crowd, while another interprets Kenya’s Vision 2030 as “a sign of Satan’s rule.”

Inspector Caleb Machera, who testified virtually, recalled that police had long considered Mackenzie a security threat in Kilifi County.

He recounted a March 31, 2023, incident where he received a distress call about violent clashes between Mackenzie’s followers and local youths at Shakahola Centre.

“When we arrived, they were fighting with crude weapons,” Machera told the court. 

“They were defending the preacher’s forest compound, saying outsiders were not welcome.”

11 people, including two now co-accused, were arrested after the clash.

Read: Pastor’s daughter reveals ‘dark secrets’ of Mackenzie's church

The Shakahola massacre, which shocked the world after the discovery of hundreds of bodies in shallow graves, continues to cast a long shadow over the nation.

Prosecution is led by Assistant DPP Jami Yamina, Prosecution Counsel Yassir Mohammed, and Principal Prosecution Counsels Alex Ndiema, Betty Rubia and Victor Owiti.

The case resumes on Wednesday as the court continues to hear witness testimonies in what prosecutors describe as one of Kenya’s darkest criminal trials.