Dan Mackenzie firstborn son to cult leader of Good News International Church Paul Mackenzie is speaking up about his father who is on spot light over the Shakahola massacre.
The 21-year-old who spoke to Citizen Digital described his dad as a role model saying he believes he is innocent.
“Babangu hana makosa,” he says.
Dan who is a Form One dropout and a bodaboda rider in Malindi noted that he did not join his father’s cult saying at the time he moved to Shakahola, he was left to look after their home in Furunzi village located more than 100 kilometres away from the mass graves of Shakahola.
He has lived there since late 2019 together with his grandmother and his stepmother – his father’s third wife Rhoda Maweu, who is currently in police custody.
“Nimefika Form One na niliacha shule mimi mwenyewe sikulazimishwa na mtu…na baba alipofunga kanisa mimi pia sikuwahi jihusisha na kanisa na alienda huko peke yake,” he says.
He says his father was taking care of them and brought food from Shakahola.
“Alikuwa anatuletea vyakula vyakula vya shambani manake huko alikuwa na kisima.”
According to him, Mackenzie closed his church in 2019 and resorted to farming in Shakahola.
He noted that his dad is not a trained clergy and lacks any theological training. He only studied up to form four at Lukore secondary school in Kwale before moving to Malindi town as a taxi driver.
He claims that it was not mandatory for Mackenzie’s followers to follow his misguided teachings against education and directives on dry fasting which has led to mass death.
Dan’s mother who was MacKenzie’s first wife died in 2010.
