MOMBASA — A court in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa sentenced Paul Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International church, to 200 years in prison for the murders of 190 children and one adult. The sentence, delivered two weeks after his conviction, stems from one of the deadliest cult disasters in recent history.
The prison term comprises 100 years for murder by starvation and an additional 100 years for direct homicide. Prosecutors detailed how Mackenzie's Christian doomsday sect ordered members to starve themselves and their children to death, promising entry into heaven before the world's end.
Accomplices threatened and beat victims to ensure compliance. Authorities discovered emaciated bodies in shallow graves and latrines within the Shakahola forest in southeastern Kenya. Some victims had been buried alive.
Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, denied the murder charges and asserted he did not force the victims to starve. The court rejected his argument.
The Shakahola tragedy first gained national attention more than three years ago with the discovery of mass graves in the forest. Police were alerted in March 2023 when a man reported his brother and wife had starved their children to death on Mackenzie's orders.
Mackenzie was arrested but later released on bail. After relatives reported he advanced the date he told followers the world would end, police rearrested him and began systematic search and exhumation operations.
Investigations have recovered more than 400 bodies. Due to severe decomposition, only 26 victims could be identified. The recent judgment covers 191 deaths, while investigations into over 200 other deaths continue.
Justice Diana Kavedza-Mochache presided over the sentencing, which lasted more than eight hours. She noted that in some cases, children were isolated and denied food while their own parents observed.
Mackenzie prohibited cult members from sending children to school or seeking hospital care, labeling such institutions as satanic. Followers lived in makeshift homes constructed from polythene sheeting and thatch, with areas designated by biblical names such as Jerusalem and Judea.
Authorities first searched Mackenzie's premises in 2017. Police shut down his church in 2019, after which he relocated to the Shakahola forest.
The tragedy has prompted calls across Kenya for tougher oversight of churches and religious organizations in a country where religious faith plays a prominent role in public life.
