Kenyan Cult Leader Jailed 200 Years For Child Murders

A Kenyan self-proclaimed preacher, Paul Mackenzie, has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for the deaths of 190 children and one adult in a starvation cult that operated near the coastal town of Malindi.

The case, known as the Shakahola Forest Massacre, came to light in 2023 after hundreds of bodies were discovered at the sect’s base in Shakahola Forest.

Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, was accused of persuading followers to starve themselves to death in the belief that doing so would enable them to meet Jesus.

He was convicted last month alongside 28 co-defendants for the deaths of 191 people between January 2021 and September 2023.

Delivering the sentence on Friday, the court handed Mackenzie 100 years for the homicide offences and another 100 years for charges relating to starvation. His co-accused, some of whom forced their own children to go without food and water, also received lengthy prison sentences.

The judge described the suffering endured by the children, noting that some watched their siblings die while their parents continued to eat and drink. Others were strangled or severely beaten, while many experienced extreme hardship and psychological trauma.

“Children observed siblings drop dead… as their parents ate and drank,” the judge said.

“Some died as a result of strangulation, severely beaten… Children were subjected to extreme suffering… terrifying living conditions, psychological trauma.”

Mackenzie showed little emotion as the sentence was read.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, but the judge ruled that it would not serve as an effective deterrent because the convicts viewed death as a passage to heaven and reunion with Jesus and their deceased children.

Although Kenya retains capital punishment, it has not carried out an execution since 1987.

Francis Wanje, a 62-year-old teacher who lost two grandchildren to the cult, told AFP he had wanted Mackenzie to receive the death penalty to prevent similar incidents in the future.

He said another grandchild, now 11, had gone without food for eight days before being rescued in March 2023.

Wanje also testified that the child’s brothers, aged two and five, died after their parents, following Mackenzie’s instructions, stopped them from eating and drinking.

Wanje said the loss had caused lasting pain and accused authorities of failing to intervene early enough, arguing that timely action could have prevented the deaths.

“Nothing can ease the pain,” Wanje said. 

“I really have great (anger) towards the authorities. If they had taken action, we would not be here today,” he added.

Mackenzie’s lawyer said he would appeal the conviction. The preacher also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism cases, charges he has denied.

About 120 prosecution witnesses testified during the trial. 

Their accounts revealed that the movement discouraged formal education, describing it as satanic, rejected modern medicine and hospitals as tools of the devil, and instructed members to isolate themselves from the outside world.

Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after a human rights organisation raised concerns with authorities. Some followers were rescued from the 325-hectare ranch in Shakahola Forest, along Kenya’s coast.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights estimated the death toll at 429 in 2024, with some victims yet to be identified.

The tragedy has heightened calls for stricter oversight of religious organisations, particularly after it emerged that Mackenzie had previously been arrested twice but was released.

He founded the Good News International Church in 2003 and established branches in Nairobi and coastal Kenya, attracting thousands of followers. Mackenzie, however, claimed that the church had shut down in 2019.

He was first arrested in 2017 over allegations of radicalisation but was later acquitted. In 2019, he was arrested again in connection with the deaths of two children in Shakahola but was released on bail.