Witness recounts harrowing Shakahola rescue mission

The Shakahola massacre trial took a harrowing turn on Tuesday as Chief Inspector Job Wafula Wanyonyi recounted how he led one of the first police teams into the forest.

He said dozens of starving followers of preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie were discovered confined in makeshift shelters.

Testifying before Principal Magistrate Nelly Chepchirchir at the Tononoka Children’s Court, Inspector Wafula narrated how, on 13 April 2023, he spearheaded a fact-finding mission after intelligence reports of unusual activity in the dense forest. 

What he and his officers encountered, he said, was a scene of human suffering on a scale few could imagine.

“We found men, women, and children who were too weak to walk or speak, many on the brink of death,” he testified. 

“Some were lying on the ground with no strength left, and despite our rescue efforts, four people – two men and two women – died before they could be helped.”

Among those saved was a child, identified in court records as C.A.A, who told officers they had been forced to fast until starvation. 

The officer said several individuals acting as guards were also arrested during the operation. They were armed with clubs and farm tools to keep the victims from escaping.

Inspector Wafula’s testimony came as prosecutors intensified their case against Mackenzie and 35 co-accused persons, who face charges of cruelty to children, torture, and denial of education, among others. 

Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Jami Yamina, Principal Prosecution Counsel Betty Rubia, and Prosecution Counsels Eunice Odongo and Biasha Khalifa are leading the case.

Earlier, Government Pathologist Dr Richard Njoroge described post-mortem examinations on bodies recovered from mass graves, saying most were too decomposed to determine the cause of death, though starvation was evident in several cases.

 Digital forensic expert Police Constable Joseph Mwai also presented photographs extracted from a witness’s phone showing emaciated individuals.

Bridge International Academy director Maxwell Kisienya testified about a missing pupil last seen in 2017.

The court heard that DNA testing has been carried out on samples from the 453 bodies exhumed in Shakahola, some of which have since been matched to relatives searching for missing loved ones.

The trial continues on Wednesday, with more witnesses expected to take the stand.