Introducing Paul Nthenge
Makenzi of Shaka Horror
By Anchor Reporter
So who is this man Paul Makenzi-
the cult leader of Shakahola?
As we went to press this afternoon,
police had retrieved not 89 people. Today, 16 people were exhumed as Interior
Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki toured the village now aptly becoming Shaka
Horror. Red Cross account is that over 212 people are missing and relatives are
worried that they may be among those being exhumed.
Paul Nthenge Makenzi- Courtesy Daily Nation
So who is Paul Nthenge Makenzi is
alleged to indoctrinate his followers to fast to death as the fastest way to
meet Jesus Christ. Bodies, mostly of women and children are being pulled from
the shallow graves at the site that has pushed Kenya to international
spotlight. This has continued with the slightest detection by the government of
the Republic of Kenya.
Meet Paul Nthenge Makenzi. He is
the son of Makenzi Kisini Kitivo, a famous family that lives in Muangoni
Village, Ngungi Sub Location, Ikalaasa Location in Mwala Sub County, Machakos County.
His uncles, aunties and cousins live in this remote village at the border of
Machakos and Makueni County. Kalawa Market is the biggest trading Centre whose
key commodity is livestock.
To access Muangoni Village, you
would have to take a ride on a bodaboda from Kalawa for a 20-30-minute trip
that may cost you Kes 150.00 at most, depending on the detours taken.
His family is not new to
controversy. It shot into fame in 60s owing to a concoction that was brewed by
his father- Kisini Kitivo. The famous concoction was called Kavisu(Small pot in
Kikamba). From the small pot, his ancestor would brew a potent mixture that was
believed to cast away spells of witchcraft. When one partook of Kavisu, you
could not bewitch anyone and neither could you be bewitched.
“The process was known as ‘Kukoloka Kavisu’ ( to stir the small
pot). People would travel from far and wide. Most came from Kitui District. It
was used to sort out family feuds and suspicions”, said our source.
But the bigger consciousness of
Kavisu came from the belief that it reversed women's inability to bear children
' It represented the treatment for childlessness. Those who experienced this
state would even bear twins after partaking of the concoction', our source
intimated. This was administered in collaboration with a family known as Mbaa
Ngingo.
Nthenge initially went to
Ikalaasa Primary School but did not finish as he migrated with his father to
Mombasa. The father was employed at the County Council of Mombasa as a janitor.
In this job, and given the technology at the time, Makenzi worked with the unit
that is akin to today's Honey Sucker- those sewerage extractors. At the time,
this job entailed going from one toilet to another to pick buckets overflowing
with human waste and empty them to a tank mounted on wheels to be disposed into
the sea.
News of Nthenge's predicament
has thrown the sleepy village into debate, with some people feeling that their
son has brought shame to the village by leading a cult that has claimed many
lives.
But others look at him
differently. They think he is an influential church leader whose work has
triggered terminal jealous among other rival church groups. " The
traditional Churches are happy to isolate our son and make him look like a
devil so that they can find more relevance in today's competitive religious
spaces
