MOMBASA, Kenya, Feb 20 — A Magistrate Court in Mombasa ordered the hospitalisation of Shakahola cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 94 of his followers after they embarked on yet another hunger strike in detention.
The leader of the starvation cult discovered in Kilifisi’s Shakahola forest in May 2023 staged a hunger strike protesting ‘injustice” ahead of a bail hearing appearance on Tuesday.
The State was set to present arguments to oppose bail for the accused persons who were charged with 238 counts of manslaughter after months of detention without presentation of charges.
The accused persons were unable to advance to the appointed courtroom within the Mombasa Law Court prompting Chief Magistrate Alex Ithuku to visit them in the basement.
He learned that the accused persons had commenced the hunger strike on Sunday with some having started much earlier, going for as long as seven days without food.
The State opposed the release of the accused persons on bail on the grounds that they had no fixed abode making them a flight risk.
The public prosecutor also cited the possibility of witness tampering.
Mackenzie and his co-accused are believed to have led masses to fast to death as part of the doctrine of his so-called Good News International Church.
Hundreds of his congregants are believed to have died as a result. The State subsequently uncovered dozens of mass graves containing remains of the Shakaholo sect members and rescued multiple others starving.
