Mackenzie’s son, Dan Paul Mackenzie, said he worked as a cameraperson in the church. “The children would sit at the back, adults in the middle, and everyone would sing worship songs all morning.”
The pastor would start his fiery sermons at noon, some of which included “casting out demons”.
The main church shut down in 2019 and Paul Mackenzie moved to Shakahola forest, encouraging his devotees to follow him.
Peter Shukrani, 23, says his mother relocated to Shakahola with him at the time. He started going to Mackenzie’s church when he was eight years old and described him as his “spiritual father”, adding that he would “never say a bad word about him”.
When in the forest, Shukrani fell ill and his condition deteriorated because medication was banned.
“My mother would throw away all the medicine I was supposed to take because she believe that only God could heal me,” Shukrani said.
The community was described as mud houses scattered across the vast forest. “We lived a quiet normal life, fasting for a few days then having a small meal,” Shukrani said.
By March 2023 when the first remains were discovered by local herders, hundreds of people had died. “We would carry someone out of the forest but they were so frail that they would die in our arms,” explained Salim Karisa, one of the gravediggers.
Shukrani was one of the men rescued from the forest in March 2023.
He was ill and bed-ridden for weeks until that point, but his condition worsened because his mother would throw away all the medication he needed to recover.
“My mother believed Pastor Mackenzie’s doctrine that medicine was evil,” Shukrani said.
“I would have died if I wasn’t rescued from Shakahola forest.”