It all started back in 2017, when Paul Mackenzie was arrested on charges of radicalisation and ‘teaching in an unregistered institution. Some parents in Malindi had raised concerns about him advocating that their children not go to school.
The rogue preacher was then tried and acquitted later in October 2021.
His name pops up again in the mainstream media earlier this year for something far worse.
Together with my Nation colleagues, our assignment was to do a keen follow-up on a story we had started about the two missing children. We had no idea what was before us.
Farhiya and Jurgen, the journalists who broke the Shakahola story, will be telling the behind-the-scenes account of covering Shakahola for Nation Media Group in a four-part podcast series. They talk about their experiences with grieving families, Kilifi locals, a powerful rogue preacher and a negligent government.
Listen to the first episode below.
