Teachers from Busia and Siaya counties have testified that several pupils disappeared after travelling with their parents to Kwa Binzaro in Kilifi County for fasting, as the murder trial of controversial preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie continued at the Mombasa High Court.
The prosecution told Lady Justice Wendy Kagendo that 28 bodies had been exhumed from shallow graves at Kwa Binzaro, about four kilometres from Shakahola.
Dishon Shihundu, principal of St Peter’s Budokomi Secondary School in Busia, testified that Form Two student Jael Atieno Ochieng disappeared on March 19, 2025. He said he later learnt that she had travelled with her parents to Kwa Binzaro.
The court heard that DNA analysis identified one body recovered from the site as Jael’s father.
Salma Olayo Anyitu, a senior teacher at Goro Primary School in Siaya, told the court that three pupils failed to return for the second term in 2025 after travelling with their parents for fasting.
DNA analysis subsequently identified three bodies as those of pupils Mary Atieno, Florence Akinyi and Shadrack Ochieng.
The case involves Mackenzie and seven co-accused facing murder charges linked to the alleged killings.
The hearing follows Mackenzie’s recent conviction alongside 28 co-accused in the Shakahola massacre case, involving 191 deaths, including 190 children.
