Kenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for the murders of 191 people after ordering followers to starve themselves to death in the belief they would meet Jesus.
The High Court in Mombasa convicted Mackenzie of murdering 190 children and one adult. Justice Diana Kavedza said he bore the “primary criminal culpability” for moving followers to a remote settlement and directing them to fast until they died.
She said 183 victims died from starvation, while the remaining eight were killed through direct homicide. The killings, she said, were “cold and calculated”.
Mackenzie led the Good News International Church, which established branches in Nairobi and along Kenya’s coast. He was sentenced alongside 28 followers, including guards accused of enforcing his instructions and gravediggers who helped conceal the bodies.
All 29 defendants were found guilty of the murders of the 191 victims on October 19. They had denied the charges, apart from one person who confessed and asked for leniency.
During Friday’s sentencing, Mackenzie often smiled and spoke with his assistant pastor, Smart Mwakalama, who received a 160-year prison sentence. The judge said the perpetrators had shown no remorse and had declared themselves ready to fast to death as well.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Mackenzie and life imprisonment for his accomplices. He is also facing terrorism, child abuse and torture charges in two other courts.
Shakahola mass graves
The case came to light after Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023, following a warning from a rights group and the rescue of some followers. A police operation at the 800-acre Chakama Ranch in coastal Kilifi County uncovered hundreds of shallow graves.
More than 400 bodies were exhumed from the site, where followers had lived in mud huts away from nearby communities and authorities. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights put the death toll at 429 in 2024, although some victims remain unidentified.
More than 60 bodies have been identified and reburied by relatives. Many others remain unclaimed.
State pathologists said many of those examined had died from starvation, while some showed signs of strangulation. Followers were allegedly divided into smaller groups given biblical names, with members believed to have died and been buried together.
Francis Wanje, a 62-year-old teacher who lost two grandchildren, said he had wanted Mackenzie to receive the death penalty. “Nothing can ease the pain,” he said, adding: “I really have great (anger) towards the authorities. If they had taken action, we would not be here today.”
Mackenzie founded the Good News International Church in 2003 and claimed it had closed in 2019. He was arrested in 2017 on allegations of radicalisation but acquitted, and was arrested again in 2019 in connection with the deaths of two children at Shakahola before being released on bail.
Investigators said he had worked as a taxi driver before establishing the ministry. Surviving members told relatives that they believed his sermons, including his prediction that “a great virus” would come shortly before Covid-19 reached Kenya.
