Kenyan Preacher Faces Verdict over Shakahola Deaths

A Mombasa court will deliver a long-awaited verdict on Monday in the trial of a self-proclaimed Kenyan preacher, Paul Mackenzie and his associates, accused of murdering 191 people, mostly children, in an infamous starvation cult.

Hundreds of bodies were discovered in 2023 inland from the Kenyan beach resort of Malindi, in what became known as the “Shakahola Forest Massacre”. One of the world’s worst cult-related tragedies made global headlines.

Mackenzie and his co-accused pleaded not guilty in 2024 to 191 murder charges. The preacher also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism cases, in which he has denied wrongdoing.

Read More : Trump Blames Immigration For France Protests

More bodies of men, women and children have been recovered from the surrounding area since the initial discoveries, pushing the overall death toll beyond 400.

Relatives of the victims were expected to attend Monday’s proceedings in Mombasa, with many travelling from rural communities along kenya‘s coast.

Prosecutors allege that Mackenzie encouraged his followers to starve themselves to death in the belief that doing so would bring them closer to Jesus.

The case has fuelled public demands for tighter oversight of religious organisations in Kenya.

During the trial, more than 120 witnesses testified about events between 2021 and 2023 at the 800-acre ranch in Shakahola Forest.

Exhumed bodies in bodybags are displayed on the ground prior to a transport to the mortuary, at the mass-grave site in Shakahola, outside the coastal town of Malindi, on April 25, 2023. Credit: AFP.

The prosecution alleges that Mackenzie “initiated and directed” the extreme fasting, claiming there was a “structured hierarchy of death” which saw children first, then teens, women, and then men.

Evidence from post-mortem examinations and police investigations indicated that the children died from causes including starvation, suffocation, neck compression and traumatic head injuries, according to the prosecution.

Mackenzie’s defence team argued that the case relied heavily on indirect evidence, second-hand accounts and forensic findings they considered inconclusive.

Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after some of his followers were rescued following a report to authorities by a human rights organisation.

The ensuing investigation uncovered hundreds of shallow graves. As the number of recovered bodies increased, excavations were temporarily suspended because local mortuaries lacked sufficient space.

Kenya’s National Commission on Human Rights reported a death toll of 429 in 2024. Some victims have yet to be identified.