Inside Mackenzie’s Past: Unemployment, Taxi Business and the Road to Shakahola

Before becoming the central figure in Kenya’s Shakahola tragedy, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie lived a modest life marked by struggles to secure formal employment, small-scale trading, and driving.

Born in 1973 in Lunga Lunga, Kwale County, Mackenzie was the fifth-born in a family of 10 children. He attended Mwalewa Primary School before proceeding to Lukore Secondary School. According to accounts from his family, he was a quiet child who did not attract particular attention while growing up.

After completing secondary school, Mackenzie moved to Likoni, Mombasa, where he stayed with his elder brother. Unable to secure formal employment, he began selling flour using a handcart before training as a driver.

He later relocated to Malindi, where his sister helped him acquire a vehicle to operate a taxi business. By 1999, he had settled in the coastal town, combining his driving work with attendance at church services.

Mackenzie subsequently began preaching, claiming to have received a divine calling. In 2003, he established Good News International Church, building a following through teachings centered on biblical prophecy and the end of the world.

His influence expanded beyond church services through television and online platforms. His Times TV channel broadcast religious messages that attracted controversy, particularly his teachings opposing formal education.

In 2017, Mackenzie faced arrest over allegations of radicalization and encouraging parents to withdraw their children from school. Despite the concerns raised about his activities, his ministry continued for a period before he reportedly closed the church in 2019 and moved away from Malindi.

His name later became associated with the Shakahola tragedy in Kilifi County, where investigators uncovered mass graves in 2023. Prosecutors alleged that Mackenzie used extreme religious teachings to persuade followers to fast to death in preparation for meeting Jesus Christ.

The discovery of hundreds of bodies sparked national outrage and raised serious questions about religious radicalization, the protection of vulnerable followers, and the response of authorities to earlier warnings.

The case subsequently became one of Kenya’s most closely watched criminal proceedings. On October 19, 2026, a court delivered a verdict against Mackenzie and co-accused in a case involving the deaths of 191 people.

Mackenzie’s journey from struggling trader and taxi driver to religious leader at the center of a national tragedy continues to fuel debate about accountability, oversight of religious organizations, and the need to act on warnings that place lives at risk.

https://x.com/NationAfrica/status/2112468882665693448?s=20

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