A Kenyan judge sentenced cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison after finding that he ordered his followers to starve to death, children first, leaving 191 people dead.
Story Highlights
- On Friday, November 6, Justice Diana Kavedza of Kenya’s High Court in Mombasa sentenced Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison.
- He was convicted on Monday, October 19, of murdering 191 people in the Shakahola forest, 190 of them children.
- The court found he ordered followers to fast to death so they could “meet Jesus,” with children made to starve first.
- Prosecutors asked for the death penalty, but the judge refused, saying a death sentence would end any chance of “rehabilitation.”
- Twenty-eight co-accused received 10 to 160 years, and Mackenzie’s lawyer says he has filed an appeal.
What the Court Found
Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, led a doomsday church called Good News International Ministries. The judge found he bore the “primary criminal culpability” for moving his followers to the remote Shakahola forest near Kenya’s coast and ordering them to fast until they died. According to the judgment as reported, the starving began with the children and then spread to young people, women and men. The court found the fasting was enforced through religious teaching, fear and violence against those who resisted or tried to leave.
The court split the deaths into two groups. It found that 183 victims died of starvation and eight children were killed directly, by suffocation, strangulation or blows. Justice Kavedza called the killings “cold and calculated.” She said the accused showed no remorse and were ready to fast to death themselves.
How 200 Years Adds Up
The judge gave Mackenzie 100 years for each starvation murder, with those terms served at the same time. She gave him another 100 years for each of the eight direct killings, also served together. She then ordered the two sets to run back to back, for a total of 200 years.
Prosecutors had asked for the death penalty. The judge turned it down. “The death sentence will foreclose the possibility of disengagement and rehabilitation,” she said, meaning it would end any chance of him leaving the cult’s beliefs behind. She also noted that a living convict might one day reveal where missing children’s remains are buried. Kenya has not carried out an execution since 1987.
The Others Convicted, and the Appeal
Twenty-eight followers were convicted with Mackenzie, among them guards and gravediggers. They received 10 to 160 years, based on each person’s role, and most received 160 years. Assistant pastor Smart Mwakalama was one of those given 160 years. The judge ordered that everyone except Mackenzie be assessed for a government deradicalization program, which works to pull people away from extreme beliefs.
Mackenzie’s lawyer, Lawrence Obonyo, said he has launched an appeal. He argued the court was “circling around the constitution to give a sentence that is unattainable,” since terms of 160 to 200 years amount to life in prison. Families were divided. Suleiman Ziro, who lost six children and his wife, said the sentence was not enough and called for death. Mackenzie’s own son, Dan, called the verdict “justice served to the victims.”
A Toll Larger Than One Case
Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after a rights group tipped off the authorities. More than 400 bodies were later dug up from shallow graves on a ranch in Kilifi County, and many are still unidentified. This case covers 191 of those deaths. Mackenzie also faces terrorism and manslaughter charges over more than 200 other victims, plus child abuse and torture charges in other courts.
A Kenyan Senate inquiry found that state agencies failed to respond to warning signs about Mackenzie. A county committee told the inquiry that inaction by police and the courts let him act without interference. In July 2025, Kenya’s cabinet approved plans to regulate religious groups more closely. Friday’s sentence closes the main murder case, and the other cases will move ahead in their own courts.
Sources:
bbc.com, reuters.com, cp24.com, kenyans.co.ke, parliament.go.ke, the-star.co.ke
