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Details of how the Good News International Ministries pastor is being treated behind bars at Malindi GK Prison have emerged.
Differential Treatment and Supply Challenges in Malindi GK Prison
A report by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has revealed Pastor Paul Mackenzie sleeps on a mattress and has a blanket, while the rest of the suspects sleep on bare concrete floors.
“A visit to Malindi GK Prison revealed that whereas Mackenzie had a mattress and a blanket, the rest of the suspects were sleeping on bare concrete floors with neither blankets nor mattresses,” the report in part reports.
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Pastor Paul Mackenzie
The prison authorities, according to the report, told the Commission that the prison was facing various challenges, especially with supplies, which explains why over 30 percent of the prisoners had no uniforms, mattresses, or blankets.
These prisons, they noted, were also overcrowded, as they were holding 850 prisoners against a recommended capacity of 650 prisoners. The prison authorities further informed the Commission that they were struggling to ensure all the prisoners were adequately fed with the limited food supplies.
KNHCR called on the government to ensure that the Shakahola suspects held in prison custody are treated humanely and their rights are upheld in line with the law. The commission also said the government should facilitate unfettered and unconditional access by the KNCHR to the suspects held in prison custody, including information that is necessary for the discharge of its constitutional mandate.
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Government and Security Failures Exposed
The report laid bare the negligence of government authorities, adding that they failed the victims.
The report indicates that Mackenzie was first arrested in 2017 and charged with radicalization, promoting extreme beliefs, and failing to provide children with education, and finally released under Section 210.
“This points to a failure in the investigation and prosecution processes. The arrest should have triggered investigations that would have saved the lives of several people. This also amounted to violating the rights of children,” read the report.
The Commission faults the then security team in Malindi for gross abdication of duty and negligence, adding that they not only failed to be proactive in collecting and acting on intelligence to forestall the Shakahola massacre but also unjustifiably failed to act on credible and actionable reports provided by various sources.
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“Numerous reports had been filed at Lango Baya Police Station, Malindi Police Station, and also to the Local National Government Administration officers, from 2017,” read the report.
The issue of radicalization by Mackenzie KNHCR said, featured during the quarterly meeting of the Kilifi County Court User’s Committee (CUC) held on November 15, 2019, but was ignored.
A former follower of Mackenzie narrated how she had posted on a social media page in November 2022 in a desperate attempt to draw public attention to the unfolding situation in Shakahola.
Instead of investigating the veracity of the issues raised, the lady was intimidated after being accused of making baseless accusations.
Mackenzie’s Complaint: Alleged Threats from Social Media
Mackenzie, the report indicates, went to Lango Baya Police Station and filed a complaint, claiming that his life was in danger as a result of the social media post.
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“The police summoned the social media platform administrators and reprimanded them for posting defamatory messages. The lady posted once again, raising similar alarm about the deaths in Shakahola, but the post was pulled down by the administrator, fearing reprisals from Mackenzie and the police.” read the report
The Commission regretted that no known sanctions were taken against those officers who abdicated their duty to protect the hundreds of people, including children, who are either missing, dead or deeply traumatized as a result of their acts of gross negligence.
“Instead, all the members of the area security committee were transferred to other parts of the country,” reads the report.
KNHCR said the negligence and failure of the security and administration structures left Mackenzie’s followers under the full control and mercy of Mackenzie and his militia. Many followers faced a slow, excruciating death, mainly through starvation.
Prolonged Detention and Rights to Fair Hearing Questioned
The report indicates that suspects were charged after being held on no charge for approximately nine months, in four different courts with varied offenses in eight days, raising questions about their rights to a fair hearing.
The commission said the magistrate was handling an application by the state seeking to hold the suspects, as further observed in his ruling, given that the Shakahola suspects were held for the longest pre-trial detention in Kenyan history since the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution.
“There has been a failure to reunite children survivors with family and kin. The Commission came across 25 children aged between 1 year and 17 years being held at a rescue center in Malindi,” read the report.
Several children interviewed by KNHCR said their parents were still alive and in police custody, while others were unaware of the fate of their parents or siblings. It is important to reunite the children with
their kin, so that they can enjoy the rights enshrined in Article 53.
END…