By Grace Gilo
Yesterday afternoon, preacher Paul Mackenzie, the prime suspect in the Shakahola massacre, along with 94 co-accused others, appeared before the Mombasa Law courts.
The 40 women and 55 men charged alongside Mackenzie are allegedly connected to 429 deaths in the Shakahola massacre.
They are currently facing 238 counts of manslaughter, in violation of Section 202, as read with Section 205 of the penal code.
According to the prosecution, these individuals, including Mackenzie, are believed to have jointly killed 238 people between January 2021 and September 2023 in the Shakahola area of Malindi Sub-County within Kilifi County.
It is claimed that they engaged in this action as part of a suicide agreement, which included themselves and others who are not currently under court jurisdiction.
All the accused have pleaded not guilty to all counts of manslaughter.
The Good News International Preacher, Mackenzie, who is the main suspect, requested to meet his spouse, Rhonda Mumbua, who is charged alongside him.
Mackenzie requested the meeting as he wanted to discuss family matters with his wife.
The Chief Magistrate, Hon. Alex Thuku, granted Mackenzie’s plea to meet his spouse but under strict supervision by the prison authorities.
On the other hand, Chief Magistrate Hon. Alex Ithuku approved the application made by Principal Prosecution Counsel Alex Gituma to separate the exhibits.
All the exhibits and witness statements for the four cases were compiled into one master bundle by the investigators.
Principal Prosecutor Gituma informed the court that during a pre-trial meeting between the prosecution and the investigation team, it was decided to separate the exhibits and statements based on the four cases.
He requested two weeks to complete this task, as it involved rearranging a significant amount of exhibits and witness statements for each of the four cases.
Once completed, the materials would be provided to Mackenzie and the co-accused individuals through their respective counsels.
Furthermore, the Chief Magistrate directed that the case’s hearing take place on a day-to-day basis to accord justice to Mackenzie and the other suspects in the Shakahola massacre, who have been denied bail.
The matter will be mentioned on 13 May 2023 during which a hearing date will be set.