A Kenyan preacher, Paul Mackenzie, has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for the murder of 191 people, including 190 children, in one of the country’s most shocking religious cult tragedies.
The self-proclaimed pastor was sentenced on Friday after being convicted last month of murdering his followers between January 2021 and September 2023 at his religious sect’s base in Shakahola Forest, near the coastal town of Malindi.
The killings became known as the Shakahola Forest Massacre after hundreds of bodies were discovered at the sect’s premises from 2023.
Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, was accused of persuading his followers to starve themselves to death in preparation for what he described as meeting Jesus.
The court handed him 100 years’ imprisonment for homicide and another 100 years for starvation-related offences. His 28 co-accused also received various lengthy prison sentences.
Delivering the judgment, the judge described the suffering inflicted on the children, saying some witnessed their siblings die while their parents continued eating and drinking.
The judge further noted that some children died from strangulation and severe beatings, while others endured extreme suffering, terrifying living conditions and psychological trauma.
Mackenzie remained expressionless as the sentence was read.
Although prosecutors had requested the death penalty, the judge rejected the request, arguing that it would not serve as an effective deterrent, particularly because the convicts regarded death as a pathway to heaven and reunion with Jesus and their deceased children.
Even though Kenya retains death penalty since 1987, it has not carried out any execution so far.
A lawyer representing Mackenzie said he would appeal the conviction and sentence. The preacher also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism charges in other trials, which he denies.
During the trial, about 120 prosecution witnesses testified about the activities of the religious movement, which reportedly described formal education as satanic, rejected modern medicine and hospitals, and instructed members to isolate themselves from the outside world.
Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after a rights organisation alerted authorities, leading to the rescue of some followers from the 325-hectare ranch in Shakahola Forest.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights put the death toll at 429 in 2024, with some victims still unidentified.
The tragedy has intensified calls for stricter government oversight of religious organisations, particularly after revelations 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 along Kenya’s coast, attracting thousands of followers. Although he claimed to have shut down the church in 2019, his activities continued.
Mackenzie was first arrested in 2017 over allegations of radicalisation but was acquitted. He was arrested again in 2019 in connection with the deaths of two children at Shakahola but was released on bail.
