Mackenzie 'transformed into snake in Shakahola, bit my husband' - Witness tells court

The Shanzu Law Courts, presided over by Senior Principal Magistrate Mwanamkuu, heard testimony from the witness identified as LA as the hearing of the case against Mackenzie and 95 others continued.

The witness recounted how Mackenzie called her husband and persuaded them to return to the forest to fast to death in anticipation of meeting Jesus. 

She added that Mackenzie convinced them that he possessed the souls of everyone who had already fasted to death, adding that his teachings would lead people to salvation. 

LA narrated how she was initially a member of the Voice of Salvation Church before later joining Good News International Ministries, where she embraced Mackenzie's teachings. 

The witness and her family later relocated to Shakahola to follow Mackenzie's path of fasting, which led to the death of her six children. 

While revealing some of the extremist teachings, she said that the controversial pastor told his followers that formal education and employment were the devil's work. 

The witness added that Mackenzie discouraged seeking medical treatment, claiming that Jesus alone heals and that hospitals symbolized evil because of the serpent emblem associated with the hospital cross.

Followers were also instructed to destroy their national identity cards, citing that Huduma Namba was 'the mark of the beast'.

In obedience to the teachings, the witness affirmed that she had burnt her children's birth certificates.

Mackenzie and his co-accused face charges including terrorism, child cruelty, radicalisation, murder and violations of the Basic Education Act.