I'm a victim of my dad's teaching, Makenzi son welcomes conviction

Dan Makenzi, the son of controversial preacher Paul Makenzi. [File, Standard]

The 24-year-old son of convicted preacher Paul Makenzi yesterday termed the verdict a relief and justice for hundreds of victims and families who lost their loved ones to the doomsday cult inside the Shakahola forest in 2023. Makenzi and 18 others were convicted for the murder of 191 people inside the forest.

Makenzi's son, Dan Makenzi, said he had also been humiliated and suffered because of his father's sins. "Some people in the town (Malindi) are angry with me because of my father's crimes, but others accepted me because I also suffered in his hands, forcing me to distance myself from his life," said Dan.

Dan said he was mercilessly beaten by his father and some members of the church when he refused to fast and pray for a week. The young Makenzi, who grew up in the Furunzi area in the outskirts of Malindi town, says he was forced to fast for a week and beaten by members of his father’s church as a child.

He claims that he was also forced to drop out of school and began working as a motorbike rider in Malindi at the age of 12.

Dan said he was subjected to harsh treatment while growing up within the religious movement led by his father, recalling an incident in which he was beaten for three hours for resisting the church’s demands. “I was forced when I was young, when I was 12, to fast for a whole week,” Dan said.

He said one time he was stripped naked and beaten senselessly, and that is when his relationship with his father eventually broke down. Makenzi banished his son after he refused to fast. " He chased me from home and told me that I was on my own," said Dan.

Now living in the outskirts of Malindi, Dan earns a living as a motorcycle taxi driver, supporting himself and his younger siblings. ‘’I left school in class seven and turned to the bodaboda business to earn a living," he said.

His account points to the difficulties he says he faced growing up in the religious group, where he alleges he was subjected to practices he did not agree with.

In an interview, he said his father ordered members of his doomsday cult to starve themselves and their children to death so they could "meet Jesus".

‘’It is a relief for us and those victims who lost their loved ones in Shakahola. Justice has been served. They have been convicted. It was painful for us and for the victims. Now it’s a relief; we are waiting for the sentencing," said Dan.

Dan also disclosed that he had spoken to his father, who accused him of betrayal. Dan said he did not understand the reason for the accusation and had nothing further to say to him.

Dan described himself as a victim of the religious movement, adding a personal account of life within Makenzi’s circle to a case that has drawn national and international attention.

Delivering her eight-hour judgement at the Mombasa law court, Justice Diana Mochache said Makenzi's followers believed he was "Jesus's mouthpiece".

Mochache ruled that Makenzi launched an attack on the children and a larger population of followers who are regarded as civilians.

The judge said that he used torture and punishment, enforced fasting, denied the followers' right to medical services, denied children's rights to education and forced them to fast to death.

“A directive emanated from Makenzi and was enforced by the guards. The objective of the fast was carried out by an organisation that had structure and policy that launched an attack on the civilian population,” said Justice Mochache.

The judge noted that children were locked in houses and tied to trees and subjected to physical abuse as a means to coerce and force those who had refused to fast.

She said that the children were denied the right to grieve their parents, leading to mental and physical torture, and part of the broader attack on the civilian attack.

“From the foregoing, the scale of deaths, duration of the torture, existence of an organisation and policy all bear the characteristics of crimes against humanity,” said Justice Mochache.

She said the congregants were brought to Shakahola and divided into 12 tribes and denied food as part of the fasting regime strategy to perpetrate an attack on the large population at Shakahola.

Justice Mochache noted that the emaciated physical state the followers were found in and the murder of the children by strangulation were consistent with the characteristics of crimes against humanity.

Makenzi and his co-accused were jointly and severally held accountable for the deaths of the children through deliberate acts of commission and omission.

One of his co-accused told the court that Makenzi had said anyone who resisted fasting must be forced to go to heaven "through kicks and blows".

Burials in the forest where the cult was based were described as "weddings", with those who died celebrated as having "wedded with Jesus", the judge said.

[e-mail]