Kenyan court convicts starvation cult leader Paul Mackenzie of murder of 191
The High Court in Mombasa has convicted self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie and 28 co-accused of murdering 191 people in the Shakahola starvation cult case, with sentencing set for 6 November.
A Kenyan court on Monday convicted self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie and 28 co-accused of the murder of 191 people — 190 children and one adult — in the Shakahola starvation cult case, one of the deadliest cult tragedies of modern times.
Justice Diana Kavedza Mochache of the High Court in Mombasa found the 29 guilty of murder under Section 203 of the Penal Code, read with Section 322 of the Criminal Procedure Code, rejecting the defence argument that the victims had voluntarily fasted to death. The court accepted the prosecution’s case that Mackenzie ordered followers of his Good News International Church to starve themselves and their children to meet Jesus before the world ended.
Mackenzie was arrested in 2023 after a tip-off led police to Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County, where investigators uncovered mass graves. More than 400 bodies were recovered in total; this judgment covered 191 of those deaths, with further investigations and possible trials still outstanding. All but one of the 29 pleaded not guilty — one of the accused pleaded guilty to all the counts, according to Capital FM — while the separate allegations of terrorism and radicalisation have been denied.
Sentencing was set for Friday 6 November, with the court ordering probation pre-sentence reports ahead of the hearing.
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