The High Court has halted hearing a case filed by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) opposing bond or bail against controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie and 29 other Shakahola massacre suspects.
In a statement on Thursday, July 18, 2024, DPP said the court decided to give the defence more time to file their submissions in the case in which Mackenzie and his co-accused were charged with murdering 191 people.
The prosecution team told Lady Justice Mugure Thande that they were ready to proceed with the case. However, they indicated that they would not be opposed to the defense’s prayer seeking seven days to put their house in order.
“We have no objection to counsel being granted more time to file the submissions. We may, however, set a ruling date in advance. On our part, we pray to highlight our submissions, if agreeable to the court,” stated the prosecution team.
Lawyer Wycliffe Makasembo, who is appearing for the 30 accused persons, was absent to represent his clients.
Justice Thande has directed the defence to file their submissions in opposition to the DPP’s application on or before August 1, 2024.
The judge has also directed parties to highlight their respective submissions on September 24, 2024.
The second defence counsel, James Mouko, has also been ordered to issue notice to Makasembo on the court’s directions.
“The DPP applied to oppose the bond for all the accused persons charged with the offence of murder, contrary to Section 203 as read with 204 of the Penal Code. In their application, the prosecution team gave five compelling reasons to deny the suspects’ bond, saying they were flight risks, lacked known permanent abodes, and might interfere with witnesses,” DPP stated.
Mackenzie threat
DPP further highlighted the severity of the sentences facing Mackenzie and the 94 others will make them abscond court hearings because they are aware of the strength of the prosecution case.
According to the DPP, Mackenzie is still very influential among his followers and should not be released on bond.
“Some of the state witnesses in the case are children of the suspects, and they are very vulnerable,” DPP stated.
Recently, the DPP moved to the Court of Appeal to oppose Justice Thande’s ruling to reduce the 191 murder charges to not more than 12. A three-judge bench sitting at Malindi is slated to fix a hearing date for the DPP’s appeal.
Mackenzie and his co-accused jointly pleaded not guilty to 191 counts of murder, contrary to Section 203 as read with 204 of the Penal Code.
They allegedly committed the offences on an unknown date between January 2021 and September 2023 in the Shakahola area in the Malindi sub-county within Kilifi County.
They were accused of murdering children, some of whom were identified by their names while others by their initials, since they were unidentified by investigators.
The court also heard that the genders of some of the murdered children were unknown.