Makenzi charged with child abuse and torture
Makenzi charged with child abuse and torture
Yesterday, a number of parents and controversial pastor Paul Makenzi were accused of abusing and neglecting their children.They were also charged with pulling kids out of school to join the cult responsible for 429 deaths in Kilifi County’s Shakahola Forest. Makenzi and his 38 coworkers were charged on 17 charges of abusing children, torturing them, assaulting them, causing them bodily damage, abusing their right to an education, and abusing their authority.
A 16-year-old child (WUK) was illegally, deliberately, and intentionally removed from Mtopanga Secondary School by Makenzi and a couple, Felix and Frida Katana, who also failed to guarantee the youngster attended school on a regular basis, the court heard.At their arraignment in Tononoka Children’s Court, Makenzi and his co-accused refuted the allegations in front of Principal Magistrate Nelly Chepchirchir. The Good News International (GNI) ministries preacher and 95 of his followers have also been charged with terrorism, radicalization in addition to 238 charges of manslaughter and murder.
It is alleged that on diverse dates between 2020 and 2023 in Shakahola forest, Kilifi County, they wilfully subjected male children aged eight and 14 years to torture by slapping and beating them with sticks on their legs, occasioning them harm. They are accused of wilfully and intentionally ill-treating eight children aged 13, 14, 16 and 17 years by denying them food, thereby causing them unnecessary suffering and injury to their health.
The suspects are accused of taking JNK, a youngster, out of Timboni Sawasawa Academy and neglecting to make sure the child was enrolled in classes on a regular basis.Additionally, it claimed that on certain days in 2019, Makenzi and the other co-accused withheld EWO, a 13-year-old, from attending Inavi Primary School and did not make arrangements for the kid to return.
Makenzi and Agnes Shihale are charged with neglecting to ensure the 16-year-old CAA kid attended school and with withdrawing the child from Mtopanga Secondary.In 2020, GN, a 14-year-old child, was accused of being purposefully and knowingly removed from Ufunuo Elim Mishomoroni Academy by Makenzi and Catherine Wanjiru.Victor Mule, Peter Kiprop, Jamii Yamina, and Victor Owiti, state prosecutors, opposed the accused’s bond release yesterday.
“We will be opposing bond for all the 39 accused,” said Mule. Owiti said the prosecution will provide the accused with all the witness statements except the police cover report that had been requested by Makenzi’s layer Wycliffe Makasembo.
“We will provide all the documents, excluding the covering report,” Owiti declared.Chepchirchir gave the prosecution till February 15—the day of the anticipated bond application hearing—to provide the defense attorney with all pertinent documentation.
Makasembo requested a postponement so he could ask his clients for guidance and get ready for the bond application. “I’m not prepared to move forward with the hearing for the bond application. To consult with the clients, I require time. We are looking for all additional documentation, medical records, and covering reports,” Makasembo stated.
