The shadow of the Shakahola massacre continues to loom over Kenya as Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has revealed that controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie is still in active contact with his followers despite being behind bars.
This revelation comes in the wake of the chilling discovery of human skulls at Kwa Binzaro in Kilifi, suspected to be linked to a fresh wave of cult-related deaths.
Murkomen disclosed that Mackenzie, who is currently in remand over the Shakahola massacre, has managed to bypass prison restrictions to communicate with his loyalists. “One of the rescued persons told the DCI that Mackenzie called him from the cells and prayed for him through the phone. So you can see how rampant this case of religious radicalisation is,” the CS told journalists.
Authorities have connected the Kwa Binzaro site to a fasting-to-death cult, similar to the one Mackenzie allegedly orchestrated in Shakahola, where over 400 bodies were uncovered between 2021 and 2023. Disturbingly, most of the newly discovered remains are believed to be children’s, found either in shallow graves or left to be scavenged by wild animals.
While Mackenzie has denied any involvement in the Kwa Binzaro cult through his lawyer, Wycliffe Makasembo, police suspect at least one of those arrested in the new case was a member of his church. Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) are continuing to comb the area, with initial findings suggesting the victims were buried between March and July this year.
The revelation of Mackenzie’s continued influence underscores the challenge facing security agencies in tackling religious extremism along Kenya’s coast. For many, the horror of Shakahola remains fresh, and the Kwa Binzaro discovery is a grim reminder that the war against cultic radicalisation is far from over.
