GSU Officer, Wife and Mother Missing in Shakahola Cult Probe
As the investigation into the macabre cult in Shakahola, Kilifi County, continues, an officer of the Nairobi-based General Service Unit (GSU), his wife, and his mother are among the dozens of people reported missing.
According to close relatives, the 36-year-old GSU officer Isaac Ngala, his 35-year-old wife Emily Wanje, and his mother joined the violent cult between 2019 and 2020.
Imani Ngala (two years) and Seth Ngala (five years) have had their bodies exhumed and positively identified by their family.
Fortunately, one child, Ephraim Gandi, was rescued early in the week during the ongoing operation that has also involved the exhumation of more than 90 bodies.
In 2014, after completing her Diploma in Community Development at the Technical University of Kenya, Emily Wanje, age 25, wed her GSU sweetheart.
Mr. Ngala returned to his workstation in Nairobi after one month, leaving Emily in Malindi, Kilifi County, with her mother-in-law, but he could frequently visit her.
Emily obtained employment as an Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) teacher at a local Malindi school one year after their wedding.
This is where she worked as an ECDE instructor until she vanished sometime in 2020.
According to family members, Mr. Ngala joined the violent cult in 2019 before his wife Emily.
Lured after he left employment
Mr. Ngala was enticed to join the controversial Good News International Church of Pastor Paul Mackenzie after he quit his job when their second child was only six months old.
A year later (in 2021), Mr. Ngala convinced his wife Emily to quit her job and join him at the church so that they could both serve God.
“He was a GSU police officer in Nairobi County when he abruptly quit his job and joined Pastor Paul Mackenzie’s Good News International Church. He persuaded his wife Wanje to join him in the church later on. He’ld tell her that working was a sin!” Emily’s sister, Winnie Wanje, said.
In an exclusive interview with the Nation, Winnie disclosed that in 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the couple left their Malindi home for Lamu County, claiming they had acquired a two-acre plot of land and needed to develop it “without revealing much.”
The family discovered later that it was a gift from Pastor Paul Mackenzie.
“The two are among the many missing individuals. When we learned that the bodies of my sister’s two children had been exhumed, we were astounded. We reported the couple as missing, and they are currently being located. My mother-in-law is also missing,” she told the Nation.
She added, “Their cell phones are off.”
Winnie disclosed that the last time she saw Emily was in December 2022. When Emily visited their Shanzu home to check on their ailing mother, who had been admitted to a local hospital.
A family member revealed that they became suspicious of the church when schools reopened after being closed due to Covid-19. Because Emily refused to send her eldest son back to school, claiming their church opposed it.
ALSO READ: Survivor Accuses Mackenzie of Ordering Children’s Starvation in Kilifi Cult
According to Winnie, on March 15, Emily’s father-in-law, who was also a member of the church, escaped from Shakahola. To their good fortune, found their other relatives and informed them of the events at the Good News International Church.
She stated that she and other villagers organized a rescue mission in the forest. But the three individuals were not located.
They were able to save her nephew, who was in critical condition and eight years old.
The minor informed them that two of his siblings had died of starvation.
“Upon recovery, the boy informed us that his brothers had died and been buried three days before his rescue. He revealed to us that he had gone seven days without eating. While his parents and the rest of the group escaped. We did not wish to exhume the bodies in violation of the law.
Winnie stated, “We reported the incident to the police, which led to the end of the Shakahola massacre.”
GSU Officer, Wife and Mother Missing in Shakahola Cult Probe
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