A Kenyan court has sentenced Paul Mackenzie, the leader of a religious cult linked to mass deaths in Shakahola forest, to 200 years in prison for the murder of 191 people.
Mackenzie was convicted alongside 27 co-accused after prosecutors established that followers had been instructed to starve their children to death in the belief that they would meet Jesus. All but one of the 191 victims were children.
The convictions followed a case that attracted international attention after hundreds of bodies were discovered in shallow graves in Shakahola forest, near Kenya’s coast, in 2023.
Prosecutors had asked the court in Mombasa to impose the death penalty on Mackenzie, citing the severity of the crimes and what they described as his failure to show remorse. They sought life imprisonment for the other defendants.
Families of Victims Seek Justice
Ahead of Friday’s sentencing hearing, Francis Wanje, who lost eight relatives, including two grandchildren, in the Shakahola tragedy, told the BBC that he wanted a punishment reflecting the scale of the crimes.
Mackenzie and his co-accused had formally appealed for mercy and asked the court to show leniency.
Before their convictions on 19 October, all the defendants had pleaded not guilty and repeatedly maintained that nobody had been forced to die.
Judge Details How Religious Teachings Led to the Deaths
In an eight-hour judgment delivered last month, Justice Diana Mochache described how Mackenzie’s followers regarded him as a spokesperson for Jesus.
The court heard that people who challenged his teachings were beaten to death. One of the co-accused admitted telling followers that anyone refusing to follow the fasting instructions should be forced into heaven through physical violence.
Justice Mochache also explained that burials in the forest were referred to as weddings, with those who died described as having married Jesus.
The judge concluded that the deaths resulted from an organised system of religious instructions and directives that compelled followers to participate in deadly fasting practices.
Post-mortem examinations established starvation as the cause of death for most victims. Others died from suffocation, strangulation or head injuries. In some cases, decomposition made it impossible to establish the cause of death. Other victims died shortly after being rescued because they were severely malnourished.
Investigation Raises Questions Over Police Response
The discovery of the bodies prompted renewed scrutiny of how the cult had operated for years without effective intervention from authorities.
President William Ruto established a commission of inquiry following the discovery, although the commission was later declared unconstitutional.
Investigations by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights found that local administrators and law enforcement officers had repeatedly ignored the group’s activities.
Wanje said he reported the situation to police in March 2023 and expected officers to act immediately to rescue people still inside the forest.
He told the BBC that a relative working in the police force and a former cult member helped save his grandson. The child subsequently informed police about what had happened and showed them the graves of his siblings.
Wanje said the intervention came just in time to save the boy, who he believed would otherwise have been killed.
Mackenzie’s Religious Movement and Teachings
Mackenzie founded Good News International Ministries in 2003. Over the following 16 years, the organisation expanded and attracted thousands of followers through branches across Kenya.
The church also operated a television station, Times TV, which broadcast Mackenzie’s sermons from Malindi.
His End Days teachings included claims that education was evil, healthcare went against religious doctrine and digital identity cards represented the mark of the devil.
The main church closed in 2019, after which Mackenzie relocated to Shakahola forest and encouraged his followers to join him.
He had previously been arrested but was released because of a lack of sufficient evidence.
More Than 400 Bodies Found as Further Cases Continue
Although the murder convictions cover 191 victims, more than 400 bodies were exhumed from Shakahola forest during the investigation.
Mackenzie and other leaders associated with the group are also facing several additional legal cases, including charges relating to terrorism, radicalisation and denying children access to education.
The conclusion of the murder trial therefore accounts for only part of the legal proceedings arising from the Shakahola deaths.
