"I was forced to starve my daughter to death in Shakahola" Witness in Shakahola Massacre

Shanzu, July 26, 2024 -  In a chilling testimony before Shanzu Senior Principal Magistrate Leah Juma, a protected witness recounted the traumatic experience of being coerced into starving his one-and-a-half-year-old daughter to death. This testimony was part of the ongoing trial related to the Shakahola massacre, where over 400 people are believed to have died due to radical teachings enforced by the prime suspect, Paul Mackenzie.

The witness, who cannot be named for his own safety, attempted to spare his child the extreme fasting requirements insisted upon by Mackenzie and his followers in the first instance. 

He was brought under unrelenting pressure by the elders of the community, policed by the leaders carrying out the deadly instructions issued by Mackenzie.

These elders were only enforcing the fasting on the instructions of Mackenzie but watching people die.

He claimed that his daughter died of starvation when she was not fed and given any water for 15 days. The sad story did not stop there: he lost his wife, too, as a result of death following a 10-day fast in a makeshift tent, to which she moved in an attempt to adhere to the draconian regime imposed by the group.

It was a two-day testimony where the witness explained how Mackenzie's radical doctrine, that had been presented at first as a fasting regime by will, became a coercive practice. 

This enforcement brought huge deaths, majorly children, between January and February 2023. Mackenzie himself is alleged to have conducted burials for children who died in the fasting period.

He described his desperate efforts to flee the forest, bound by fear and lack of resource. 

His wife moved deeper into the forest after his child's death, following an order that required fasting followers to avoid police detection by retreating into the more remote areas. 

The police and families at the time were vigorously searching for missing loved ones.

After his wife's death, he was compelled to carry bodies from improvised tents to cemeteries and excavate graves. 

He further elaborated how he had started fasting and sometimes broke it by drinking honey mixed with water.

Distressing revelations on the same came in during the examination-in-chief by the prosecution team led by Peter Kiprop, Jami Yamina, Anthony Musyoka, Victor Owiti, Betty Rubia, and Peris Ogega. 

The case was stood down until September 30, 2024. 

Further hearings were scheduled for October 1 to October 3, and October 28, 2024.

The ongoing trial only continues to unravel the shocking events that happened in Shakahola forest, immediately begging questions about radical teaching influence and how far it can propel individuals and communities into action.