The Kenya cult leader sentenced on Friday is Paul Mackenzie, a self-styled pastor who received a total of 200 years in prison. A Kenyan court found him responsible for murders linked to Shakahola Forest, where 190 children and one adult died after his followers were told to starve themselves and their children so they could “meet Jesus.” Twenty-eight others were convicted alongside him. The case is among the deadliest cult-related killings in recent times, and it has renewed questions about how such groups were allowed to operate.
What the court ordered
The sentence has two parts: 100 years for murder by starvation and 100 years for direct homicide. The terms within each category run at the same time, while the two sets run one after the other, which brings the total to 200 years. Mackenzie also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism charges, which he denies.
Prosecutors had asked for the death penalty, arguing that the scale of the killings called for the harshest punishment. The judge said the case met the threshold for considering it but declined to impose it on any of the victims, saying capital punishment would end any prospect of rehabilitation. The death sentence has not been carried out in Kenya since 1987.
The 28 accomplices, including guards who enforced the fasting and gravediggers who hid bodies in mass graves, received prison terms of 10 to 160 years. Mackenzie and his co-accused had asked the court for leniency. Defence lawyer Lawrence Obonyo, who represents Mackenzie and almost all the other convicted people, said he would appeal the ruling.
How the killings were carried out
Prosecutors said Mackenzie led an apocalyptic Christian church in a forest near Kenya's Indian Ocean coast and told followers to fast to death, with their children, before the world ended. The judge said he had won his followers' trust through a charismatic media presence. Those who tried to break the fast were beaten and tied up, and those who opposed his teachings were beaten to death.
Post-mortem results showed starvation was the cause of death for most victims, while others died from suffocation, strangulation or head injuries. For some, the cause could not be determined because the bodies had decomposed, and others died soon after rescue because they were severely emaciated. The judge described the killings as “cold and calculated” and said the perpetrators showed no remorse.
Mackenzie had been on the authorities' radar since 2017, when police searched his premises. Ojiro Odhiambo of the Kenya Human Rights Commission said the conviction was an important step, but that accountability should extend to local administrators, police, intelligence officers and religious leaders. Stephen Mwiti, who lost six children in the forest, told reporters ahead of the sentencing: “what about the children?” The judge called on parliament to act so that such deaths do not happen again.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- 2017 and 2019: Police searched Mackenzie's premises in 2017, and in 2019 authorities shut his church in Malindi, after which he moved to Shakahola Forest.
- April 2023: Police began uncovering bodies in Shakahola Forest near the coastal town of Malindi.
- May 2023: President William Ruto appointed a task force to review the legal and regulatory framework for religious groups.
- 2024: Government-backed and Senate proposals on oversight of religious groups were published but have not yet been passed into law.
- 19 October: Mackenzie and 28 co-accused were convicted, having all pleaded not guilty.
- Friday: The court sentenced Mackenzie to 200 years in prison.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Kenya ki adalat ne cult leader Paul Mackenzie ko 200 saal qaid ki saza sunai hai. Us par Shakahola forest mein 190 bachon ki maut ka case saabit hua, jinhein bhooka rakhne ka hukm diya gaya tha. Unke wakeel Lawrence Obonyo ne kaha hai ke woh faisle ke khilaf appeal karenge. Aam logon ke liye yeh yaad dehani hai ke religious groups ki nigrani ke liye banay gaye proposals abhi tak qanoon nahi ban sake.
