A Kenyan court has sentenced self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for orchestrating the deaths of 191 people, including 190 children, in a starvation cult that shocked the country.
Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, was convicted last month alongside 28 other people for the deaths, which occurred between January 2021 and September 2023 at the sect’s base in Shakahola Forest, near the coastal town of Malindi.
The case, widely known as the Shakahola Forest Massacre, involved followers who were allegedly encouraged to starve themselves to death in order to meet Jesus.
On Friday, the court sentenced Mackenzie to 100 years in prison for homicide and another 100 years for offences related to starvation. His co-accused, some of whom forced their own children to stop eating and drinking, also received lengthy prison sentences.
In delivering the sentence, the judge described the suffering endured by the victims, particularly children who witnessed their siblings die while their parents continued to follow the cult’s teachings.
“Children observed siblings drop dead… as their parents ate and drank,” the judge said, adding that some victims were strangled or severely beaten, while others endured extreme suffering and psychological trauma.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, but the judge rejected the request, arguing that execution would not effectively deter people who believed death was a pathway to heaven and reunion with Jesus and deceased relatives.
Kenya retains the death penalty, although it has not carried out an execution since 1987.
Mackenzie’s lawyer has indicated that he will appeal the conviction. The preacher also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism charges, which he denies.
During the trial, about 120 prosecution witnesses testified about the teachings of Mackenzie’s Good News International Church. The group reportedly discouraged formal education, describing it as satanic, rejected modern medicine and hospitals, and instructed followers to cut ties with the outside world.
Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after a rights organisation alerted authorities, leading to the rescue of some followers from his 325-hectare property in Shakahola Forest.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights estimated in 2024 that the death toll had reached 429, with some victims still unidentified.
The discovery of hundreds of bodies triggered widespread demands for tighter government oversight of religious organisations, particularly after it emerged that Mackenzie had previously been arrested twice but released.
He founded the Good News International Church in 2003 and established branches in Nairobi and along Kenya’s coast, attracting thousands of followers. Although he claimed to have closed the church in 2019, his activities continued to attract scrutiny.
