Court gives Gov’t 14 days to prosecute Paul Mackenzie or he be released

Controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie could walk from prison if the State fails to charge him in a fortnight.

This comes on a day the court allowed the detention of Mackenzie and others for 14 more days to give more time for the prosecution to charge the man believed to be behind the deaths of hundreds of his followers, who included children.

The delays to charge Mackenzie and his accomplices have been occasioned by the prosecution consistently asking for more time to conduct investigations, and that more time for the prosecution is getting close to 10 months in custody.

The ruling delivered on Tuesday by Senior Principal Magistrate Y.A. Shikanda states: “If no decision to charge the respondents will have been made after the expiry of such period, the court will consider releasing the respondents from custody on terms that will be determined by the court.”

Further, the court directed that: “The State is hereby allowed to hold the respondents in custody for a further period of 14 days from today, to pave way for any processing in the event that a decision to charge is made.”

The Magistrate noted that the starvation cult leader and others have been in detention for 117 days, which he said is one of the longest detentions in Kenya’s history under the 2010 constitutional dispensation.

“In my view, that is sufficient time within which the pending investigations ought to have been completed,” Shikanda noted.

“The instant application was filed on 18/9/2023. It was not heard immediately or promptly because of intervening factors and the ruling also had to be delayed because of excusable circumstances.”

Despite the government being on record saying those responsible for the massacre would pay, months later Mackenzie remains uncharged with the atrocities. Currently, the cult leader is serving a jail term for distributing films without a license.

He was arrested in April 2022 and was released a few weeks later only to be re arrested after his release outside the courts on May 2, 2022.

However, it was not his first brush with the law, as had been arrested in 2017 and charged with providing basic education in an unregistered institution.

He was also charged later that year on four counts including radicalization but was acquitted on October 2021.

The current matter will be back for mention on January 23, 2024 where further orders will be issued.