A protected witness has told the Shanzu Law Courts that controversial preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie used religious teachings to convince her family to return to the Shakahola wilderness, where she later lost her six children.
Testifying before Senior Principal Magistrate Mwanamkuu on Thursday, August 6, 2026, the witness, identified as LA, said Mackenzie contacted her husband, JO, while in prison and persuaded the family to return to Kwa Binzaro, commonly referred to as “jangwani”, to fast in anticipation of meeting Jesus.
The witness said Mackenzie later asked to speak to her during the phone call and made claims about the souls of people who had initially gone to Shakahola.
She told the court that she spoke to Mackenzie for about 20 minutes before agreeing to return, having been convinced that his teachings would lead the family to salvation.
LA corroborated earlier testimony by her husband, telling the court that teachings allegedly propagated by Mackenzie and other accused persons contributed to the deaths of her six children.
She said she had initially attended Voice of Salvation Church before joining Good News International Ministries, where she embraced Mackenzie’s teachings and eventually relocated to Shakahola after becoming convinced that the teachings represented the true path to salvation.
The witness further told the court that followers were discouraged from pursuing formal education and employment.
“When you study and get a job, that work is a sin,” she quoted the teachings as saying.
She also testified that followers were discouraged from seeking medical treatment, with hospitals allegedly portrayed as symbols of evil and believers taught that Jesus alone could heal them.
According to LA, followers were further taught that Huduma Namba was “the mark of the beast” and that people possessing national identity cards belonged to the devil.
She told the court that she did not burn her own identity card but claimed she burnt her children’s birth certificates in obedience to the teachings.
In another dramatic part of her testimony, LA alleged that she witnessed Mackenzie transform into a snake at around 7pm while at Shakahola.
She claimed Mackenzie had visited their homestead before his head and later his body transformed into that of a snake, adding that the snake subsequently bit her husband.
