Police Watched as Mackenzie Abducted Children, Father Says in Emotional Shakahola Hearing

The heartbreaking testimony of 66-year-old Safari Katana Yaa reveals how police repeatedly failed families trying to rescue their loved ones from Paul Mackenzie’s deadly cult before the Shakahola tragedy claimed over 450 lives.

Katana’s nightmare began in 2017 when Mackenzie’s radical teachings infiltrated his family in Furunzi, Malindi. His eldest daughter, who ran a successful tailoring shop, fell under the controversial preacher’s influence. Mackenzie convinced the family that education was sinful, prompting Katana’s son to drop out of school while other relatives abandoned their normal lives to follow the doomsday cult leader.

Early Warning Signs Ignored

When Katana discovered what was happening, he immediately sought help from Malindi Police Station. Officers accompanied him to Mackenzie’s church, where they found his children among the followers. Authorities arrested Mackenzie for radicalization, giving Katana brief hope that justice would prevail.

However, his relief vanished quickly. After authorities released Katana’s son with orders to return to school, Mackenzie’s followers abducted the boy right outside the courthouse.

“They grabbed my son, put him on a motorbike, and sped off,” Katana recalled during his emotional court testimony.

Police Indifference and Betrayal

When Katana reported the abduction, police refused to help, instructing him to only call them after he found the boy himself. Acting on earlier police advice to “do whatever it takes,” Katana managed to trace two of his children and confined them at home for their safety.

The situation took a shocking turn when Mackenzie and two of Katana’s other children stormed his home. The same police officers who had encouraged him to protect his children suddenly turned against him. They arrested and detained Katana for three weeks, fining him Ksh30,000 for “locking up his children.”

“The police said I had committed an offence. I was locked up in the cells with my other son,” he testified.

The next day, Mackenzie and his followers visited the cells, collected the two children Katana had confined, and left him behind. Despite repeatedly requesting to be charged in court, authorities never prosecuted him.

A Father’s Mounting Losses

Katana’s wife sold their chickens to raise Ksh15,000 for his release. Upon leaving the cells, he suffered an accident that crippled his mobility for months while his children remained under Mackenzie’s control.

In 2022, Katana made another desperate attempt to seek police help, only to face the same indifference. Officers coldly advised him to “focus on the youngest” since they considered the rest already lost to Mackenzie’s cult.

His final encounter with the preacher occurred at Lango Baya Police Station, where Mackenzie brazenly appeared with all five of Katana’s children and drove off with them as officers watched helplessly.

Months later, when news of the Shakahola deaths broke, Katana’s worst fears materialized.

Desperately fighting back tears, the elderly father told the court he had exhausted every option available to him, but the authorities he trusted most to protect his family had failed him catastrophically. The hearing continues from December 1 to 5.

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