By Adede Owalla
This was Paul McKenzie Nthenge when his church,Good News International in Malindi flourished few years back. He wasn’t the shaggy, confused person gracing the screens today.
He started this church back in 2003 as a small evangelical centre alongside his wife Joyce Mwikamba.
They then moved to a village called Migingo in Malindi where he set up a church in a walled compound, where his family still lives todate. His wife Joyce helped in preaching as a co-pastor and McKenzie claimed to have power to speak to God DIRECTLY.
In his sermons, he claimed to deliver words as given by God himself.
Around 2016, Mckenzie acquired a TV station after one of his followers Kennedy Mwacharo sold his property in Lamu at a throw away price of 20 Million and handed over all the money to him, abandoning his family and responsibilities.
The property was valued over 100 Million back then. The man would die two months later in unclear circumstance.
Several cases of people selling their properties and giving McKenzie as they await to meet Jesus would then follow, the recent one being Betty, a air hostess who quit her 11 year job, left her husband and sold her lifelong investments at a throw away price of 7 million, heading with the money to McKenzie’s Shakaola church.
Betty is suspected to be among the dead bodies being retrieved in graves in Shakahola.
It is claimed that McKenzie used the money that Kennedy Mwacharo gave him to buy pieces of land in Malindi and Mombasa , two vehicles and started the TV station.
Through his TV station, Mckenzie reached so many people and his teachings were basically on end times, evilness of western ways of life like medical services, education, food, sports, music etc.
Mackenzie dwelt on the uselessness of life and stressed on the afterlife. He preached about the second coming of Christ which according to him was so soon – His timeline of the second coming was always less than a year.
He also focused on the wrath that awaited those who would be alive by then.
In 2018 Dr. Ezekiel Mutua through KFCB ordered for the immediate closure of the TV station, this was a year after Mckenzie and his wife had been arraigned in court for religious radicalisation , knowing and unlawfully promoting extreme belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologies to advance religious and social change.
It is unclear how this case ended and despite the orders to shut down the TV station, McKenzie continued with it something that showed how connected he might have been.
Remember at a point, he threatened the then Kilifi Women Rep Aisha Jumwa when she questioned some of his teachings and why he kept sick people in his compound instead of taking them to the hospital.
In 2019, McKenzie would again hit headlines when four siblings from Mumias left home for his church and went missing , three of them would later resurface. This, plus the pressure put on him to close unregistered school he operated in his compound prompted him to move from Migingo to Shakaola.
He closed the church, sold some his vehicles then bought the Shakaola land in the name of starting a farming venture.
People who went to see him at where his previous church used to be in Migingo were referred to his Shakaola farm and according to neighbours, a lot of people went there but few left. McKenzie had fasting supervisors who would monitor the poor souls in the bush as they starved to death.
These are also the same people who work as undertakers for him.
It is claimed that while leaving Migingo and closing his church, he sold the TV station ( equipment) and one of his vehicle to Pastor Ezekiel of New Life and even some of his evangelization tools.
Note that Pastor McKenzie is not living with his family in Shakaola, the family live in Migingo village in a gated compound where he had his church and he has been putting up another beautiful family home few distance from Malindi town.
As he brainwashed other people and their children to die in order to meet Jesus, his family is living their best from what the fools give him as they prepare for the ‘holy’ Journey. Remember most of these people are fasting in the bush day and night , facing the harsh weather conditions and other risks – Mmmmh… let me say there is no risk if they are fasting to die 😭😭
