The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has this week enhanced the hearing of charges against Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and seven co-accused over the Kwa Binzaro massacre in Kilifi County, where the remains of 28 bodies were exhumed from shallow graves.
It is alleged that Mackenzie and the co-accused jointly murdered known and unknown adults and have been charged with several crimes against humanity under international law linked to the alleged killings in Kwa Binzaro, which is approximately four kilometers from Shakahola.
Additionally, they face manslaughter charges before the Mombasa Law Courts and radicalization charges before the Shanzu Law Courts in relation to the Kwa Binzaro Massacre.
Mackenzieโs co-accused are Shallyne Anindo Temba alias Ann, Kahindi Kazungu Garama alias Mlewa, Tom Ochieng Mkonwe alias Thomas alias Tomaso, Julius Tuva Luwali, Johnson Gona Richard, Charles Mutua Musee alias Mzee Mutua, and James Kazungu Kahindi alias Ponda alias Baba Bura.
This week’s hearing of the Kwa Binzaro Murder trial comes a week after the DPP earned the conviction of the controversial preacher Mackenzie and 28 co-accused for the murder of 191 people, including 190 children, in the Shakahola massacre case.
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Mr. Jami Yamina, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Mr. Frankline Sirima, Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Mr. Owiti and Assistant Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Ms. Betty Rubia have already led over 45 witnesses to testify before Justice Wendy in an escalation of efforts to mount its case and bring it to a logical conclusion.
This week, the prosecution has lined up more than 10 witnesses to testify, coupled with dozens of exhibits to support its case against Mackenzie and the co-accused.
Today Mr. Yamina and Mr. Sirima called three witnesses, who testified before Lady Justice Wendy Kagendo.
The first prosecution witness was a Kisumu County resident who appeared before the court virtually. Ms. Emily Achieng, who works as a salonist, told Justice Wendy that DCI officers informed her in 2025 that her national identity card number had been used to register one or more mobile phone numbers allegedly being operated by a person in Kilifi for unlawful purposes.
Achieng told the court that she presented herself to DCI officers in Kisumu, where she recorded a statement. She maintained that she was unaware that her ID number had been used to register the SIM card number in question, revealing the two cellphone numbers she has registered. She also told the court that she only learned about Mackenzie through television and had never visited Kilifi.
In his testimony, another prosecution witness, Mr. Alfred Kipchumba, a police officer attached to the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit in Mombasa, said he and three colleagues arrested Temba, Kahindi, Mkonwe, and Kazungu Kahindi during a targeted night operation at a rented apartment in the Bamburi Mtopanga area. The officer told the court that the arrests were made at about 9.30pm, during which the officers confiscated the suspectsโ mobile phones and SIM cards and handed them to the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit in Malindi.
The third prosecution witness was Mr. Filbart Niwa a trained fingerprint examiner from the National Registration Bureau. Following a request by the prosecution, with the concurrence of the defence, the Court recorded the certified testimony of the witness’s written statement on oath recorded in another case against the accused persons as the witness’s evidence-in-chief.
The case will continue tomorrow with the prosecution lining up six witnesses to testify.