A staunch follower of Pastor Paul Mackenzie who is also charged alongside him for the murder of 238 lost his whole family in the Shakahola massacre.
Lewis Thoya Sirya was testifying against his brother Evans Sirya who is charged with manslaughter alongside 90 others told court that his younger brother left everything and joined the church.
An emotional Lewis told Mombasa Chief Magistrate Alex Ithuku that his brother Evans cannot account for his wife and 6 kids.
Lewis who could not look his brother straight in the face told court that before joining Mackenzie, Evans who graduated with a diploma was a contractor.
”My brother has a diploma in clearing and forwarding but was practicing as a contractor and he was doing well financially including helping the family,” the court heard.
It was an emotional meeting between the two brothers as Lewis kept looking at his brother now confined in a wheelchair after getting a stroke.
According to Lewis, his brother was doing well financially but things changed drastically in 2018 after joining the church as he withdrew the kids from school saying it’s not God’s plan.
Lewis said he realized his brother had become a staunch follower of Mackenzie because he used to listen to the preacher’s summons saved in CDs and would go with them at home and listen diligently.
Sometime in 2018, Evans cut ties with the family and in the year 2020, Lewis got information that his brother had relocated to Shakahola forest where he heard his brother and other Mackenzi followers were to settle.
Lewis later learnt that his brother’s children had died from one of their cousins who was close to Evans.
