For a brief moment, Ernest Safari and Mwinzi Kavenge, two of the 31 people originally charged with 191 counts of murder in the infamous Shakahola massacre, thought a miracle had happened.
High Court Judge Diana Mochache had accidentally skipped their names as she convicted the 29 persons led by Paul Nthenge Mackenzie of murder in a high-profile judgement of a case that started in 2023.
They must have thought they were acquitted, only for their defence counsel, Lawrence Obonyo, to seek clarification on the matter.
“Maybe they are lucky like the two Americans who did not die after being given two shots,” Mochache joked.
“I may have skipped them due to fatigue,” Mochache declared before reading out their names and convicting them of the 191 counts of murder as well.
Indeed, it was an exhausting task.
The judgement itself was contained in 1,000 pages and was read for more than nine hours on Monday, with only a 30-minute break in between.
“I have not eaten anything,” Mochache said, perhaps indicating the seriousness of the task she undertook, which also saw the Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga personally attend in the company of his team of high-profile counsels.
Other convicted include Smart Makalama and Stephen Sanga Muya, among others.
Two of those originally charged died during the trial. They are Kevin Sudi and Edson Safari.
“I am satisfied that the prosecution has proved their case against all the 29 accused persons for the murder of 190 children and one adult contrary to section 203 of the Penal Code.
“I reject the defence of the accused persons that the victims who were all below the age of 16s voluntarily fasted to death."
“I accordingly find all 29 accused persons guilty as charged and convict each accused person individually and collectively under Section 322 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” she said.
Sentencing will be done on November 6, after a mitigation hearing set for October 30.
Mackenzie, the leader of the cult, had directed his followers to fast to death to meet Jesus.
This was after brainwashing them and turning them against the government and government processes and activities.
He banned his followers from seeking secular education and medical attention in hospitals and also directed them to get rid of all their national identification documents.
Mochache directed the director of probation services to assign each of the 29 convicts a probation officer, saying no probation officer should interview more than one convict.
She said the accused were well-behaved throughout the case and
The judge condoled with those who lost their loved ones in the matter, praising their strength and perseverance in following up on the matter to a conclusion.
She said the judgement restores faith in the justice system.
The judgement brings to an end a lengthy matter that shocked the world.
Some 429 bodies were recovered from shallow graves in the Shakahola forest as the followers, most eager to meet their maker for rewards, starved to death.
Some of them were beaten to death for seeking or sneaking food and eating in secret, Mochache said.
Mackenzie’s security officers, who were also the fasting regime enforcers, were always on the lookout for those sneaky followers who tried to cheat the system.
