A police officer has told a Malindi court that embattled preacher Paul Mackenzie discreetly ate food while his followers starved themselves during an eight-day fast in police custody last year.

Testifying before Principal Magistrate Leah Juma, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Noor Abdi, who previously served as the Officer Commanding Malindi Police Station, said Mackenzie and his co-accused were detained at the station from June 6 to June 14, 2023.

According to the officer, 15 of the detained followers refused to eat, claiming they were observing a spiritual fast to seek divine deliverance from their legal troubles.

“We separated Mackenzie from the others. Later, an informer told us that he was eating secretly in his cell so that his followers wouldn’t find out,” Abdi testified.

The court heard that while Mackenzie quietly consumed meals, some of his followers became dangerously weak and refused medical attention, insisting their fasting was part of their faith.

ASP Abdi presented written reports and communication logs that had been forwarded to senior police commanders, detailing the mass refusal to eat by the detained suspects and the measures taken to monitor their condition.

Mackenzie, the founder of Good News International Church, and 92 co-accused are currently facing multiple charges before the Shanzu Law Courts under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

The accused are alleged to have been behind the Shakahola massacre, where hundreds of followers reportedly starved to death in Kilifi County in a doomsday cult said to promote fasting as a means of “meeting God.”

The case, which has shocked the nation, continues to expose chilling details of the cult’s inner workings and the psychological control allegedly exerted by Mackenzie over his followers.