Heartbreaking Testimony of Child Abuse in Mombasa Manslaughter Trial

A Heartbreaking Testimony in Mombasa

In a chilling account, a young girl recounted the harrowing ordeal she endured at the hands of her parents, who deprived her of food and water for a staggering eight days. In her fragile state, she expressed a haunting realization: she believed she was destined to die, much like her two younger siblings. For days, her parents resorted to physical beatings whenever they caught her attempting to sip water or scavenge for food. Starved and weakened, she described how they forced her into special garments traditionally worn for funerals.

“The children were not supposed to eat, so they could die,” testified the 9-year-old girl, known only as EG, as she sat in a witness protection booth, her voice trembling but resolute. This poignant testimony was delivered in a packed courtroom in the coastal city of Mombasa on Thursday, as she became one of the first witnesses to take the stand in the ongoing manslaughter trial of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie.

Mackenzie, an evangelical pastor, is accused of orchestrating a sinister campaign within his church, allegedly urging members to starve both their children and themselves in a misguided belief that this would bring them closer to meeting Jesus in the end times. The pastor, along with 93 other defendants—including some of his key associates and followers—has denied the manslaughter charges and pleaded not guilty as the trial commenced.

In addition to these charges, Mackenzie and several co-defendants face separate allegations of murder, terrorism, and the torture and abuse of children across three different courts. Earlier this year, the Kenyan government took the unprecedented step of branding Mackenzie’s church, Good News International Ministries, as “an organized criminal group.”

As the trial unfolds, the stark realities of faith twisted into fanaticism loom large, and the plight of innocent children remains at the forefront of this tragic case.