A Kilifi court on Monday heard a painful account from a prosecution witness who said his family vanished after embracing Pastor Paul Mackenzie's teachings, with DNA tests later confirming that some of his relatives were among the bodies recovered from the Shakahola forest.
The testimony was given virtually by Japheth Lennox before Senior Principal Magistrate Eric Wambo as the prosecution presented four more witnesses in the ongoing manslaughter case against Pastor Paul Mackenzie and his co-accused Shallyne Temba, Kahindi Garama, Tom Mkonwe, Julius Luwali and Johnson Richard.
The six are jointly charged with 29 counts of manslaughter linked to the deaths of 29 people allegedly caused between January and July 2025 at Kwa Binzaro Village in Chakama Location, Magarini Sub-County, Kilifi County.
Lennox told the court that his family's journey into Mackenzie's teachings began while they were living in Migori County after they started following sermons aired on Times TV.
He said the teachings warned followers against receiving the "mark of the beast", discouraged them from seeking medical treatment by teaching that illnesses should only be cured through prayer, and described formal education as part of a corrupt worldly system.
According to the witness, the teachings deeply influenced his father, Seth, who was serving as a prison officer before leaving his job in 2021.
"My father resigned from the Kenya Prisons Service because he believed he could not 'serve both the beast and the Lord,'" Lennox testified.
Lennox said his father later urged him to move to Shakahola together with the rest of the family, but he declined because he felt he was too young to make such a decision.
He remained behind as his parents and siblings relocated. In March 2025, they informed him they were moving to Kisii, but when he tried calling his father the following month, the phone was switched off.
The witness said the last sign that something was wrong came in June 2025 when he received an anonymous phone call from someone speaking with a coastal accent.
"They have left us," the caller told him, words Lennox said he understood to mean that his parents and siblings had died.
He told the court that he has never seen or heard from any of his family members again.
Lennox further testified that officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations later informed him that DNA samples he had submitted matched some of the bodies recovered from the Shakahola forest.
The prosecution also called Meresia Adhiambo Juma and Titus Omondi, Seth's elder brother, to testify before the court.
The hearing will continue with additional prosecution witnesses.