Seven former members of the National Committee on Citizen Participation in Security have said there is no way followers of Pastor Paul Mackenzie’s Goodnews International Church would have been killed in Shakahola Forest without the knowledge of the state.

The group, which was known as Nyumba Kumi Committee, told the Senate Adhoc Committee on the Proliferation of Religious Organisations, which is investigating the Shakahola deaths, that information on the activities of the church was available but it was either ignored or there was deliberate inaction from the security agencies.

“The state knew all about it (the deaths) because there was information. But they either opted for silence or ignored the information altogether,” said the group through Dr Salim Ndemo, who the chaired committee.

The former members, who requested for audience with the ad hoc Committee in a letter through the Clerk of the Senate dated July 4, 2023, said they had put in place an elaborate infrastructure during their time that would have ensured that such security laps are arrested on time.

The infrastructure was planned from the village level all the way to the national level and included well clad reporting mechanisms.

However, their well laid plans scattered to the four winds after they were left office in what they described as an unceremonious exit.

The mandate of the former Committee was founded on the need to enhance citizens’ participation in security based on the pronouncement by President Uhuru Kenyatta during Mashujaa Day celebrations in 2013.

The seven had sought for audience to share experiences on: How the training they offered at the national level was cascaded to the village level, how they reported and forestalled threats to the national security organs, how it has made citizens understand the importance of owning security as the first line of defense.

They also explained to the committee, chaired by Tana River senator Danson Mungatana how they mobilised countrywide sensitization and awareness programmes that led to the creation of 387,000 Nyumba Kumi clusters. 

The seven explained how knowledge gained within Nyumba Kumi clusters reported and forestalled threats to national security organs that the grass root level and how implementation of their recommendations saved incidences such as those witnessed in Shakahola.