Nimechoka - Paul Mackenzie's Emotional Appeal to Court

Suspected cult leader Paul Mackenzie took it upon himself to mount a defense in court despite his lawyer being present.  

The controversial preacher and his co-accused were presented before the Shanzu Law Courts on Friday, August 4, when the court was to rule on the request by the prosecution to have them detained for 47 more days. 

Mackenzie while arguing his case before chief magistrate Francis Andayi decried maltreatment while in detention.

He said he was being denied food, an opportunity to take a bath, and mistreatment by law enforcers. 

He pleaded with the court to come to his rescue in the face of the inhumane conditions in his detention. 

"I'm suffering and I would want this court to know that. I have not eaten or showered for two days. I'm being locked in a dark room all the time and the authorities don't want to listen to me," he said.

A frustrated Mackenzie went ahead to suggest him and his group to be dumped in River Yala which is known for holding bodies of victims of extrajudicial killings.

"If you are tired with us, please take us to River Yala, we don't have a problem with that. The fact is that I will die, and everyone else will. I'm really tired, I'm being persecuted all the time, I can't even come to bask for the morning sun," he lamented.

All this he said as his lawyer looked on, shedding tears at some point.

Mackenzie and his co-accused are facing charges related to indoctrination of their followers and running cultic practices.

Bodies of the faithful of his church were discovered in shallow graves inside the vast Shakahola forest.

Mackenzie is said to have forced his followers to mandatory fasting with the promise that they would meet God.

They started dying of starvation; women and children constitute the majority of victims.

The prosecution wants them detained further to allow the investigators to conclude their work.