Kenyan Court Convicts Cult Leader Paul Mackenzie of Murder: How the Shakahola Case Unfolded

A court in Mombasa, Kenya, has found self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie guilty of murder over the deaths of 191 people, nearly all of them children. Al Jazeera reported that 28 associates were convicted alongside him, while The Independent and The Guardian put the number of co-defendants at about 30. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 6, according to Al Jazeera.

Prosecutors said Mackenzie and his Good News International Church ran a Christian doomsday sect that ordered followers to starve themselves and their children so they could reach heaven before the world ended. Mackenzie denied forcing anyone to starve, but the court rejected that argument.

What the court heard and decided

The Independent and The Guardian reported that the verdict covered 190 children and one adult. Justice Diana Kavedza Mochache spoke for more than eight hours, they said, and noted that in some cases children were isolated and denied food while their parents watched.

Mackenzie sat in court beside his wife, who is one of the co-accused. He was silent and stared ahead before the ruling, according to both outlets. The defendants had pleaded not guilty, and Al Jazeera reported that they also denied charges in other cases, including terrorism, radicalization and keeping children from school.

Prosecutors told the court that Mackenzie started and directed extreme fasting on his 800-acre (325-hectare) ranch in the Shakahola Forest, Al Jazeera reported. They described a “structured hierarchy of death,” with children dying first, then teenagers, women and finally men.

How we got here: a timeline

• 2017: Police searched Mackenzie’s premises, according to The Independent and The Guardian. He was on the authorities’ radar from that point.
• 2019: Authorities shut down his church, and he moved to the Shakahola Forest, police said.
• Mid-March 2023: A local man told police that his brother and the brother’s wife had starved their children to death in the forest on Mackenzie’s orders.
• March 2023, after the tip: Mackenzie was arrested and released on bail. Relatives say he then moved up the date he had given his followers for the end of the world.
• April 2023: Police arrested him again, searched the forest more systematically and began exhuming mass graves.
• Monday: The Mombasa court delivered its guilty verdicts on 191 deaths.
• Nov. 6: Mackenzie and the others convicted are due to be sentenced, Al Jazeera reported.

The scale of the Shakahola deaths

More than 400 bodies have been recovered from the forest, according to The Independent and The Guardian. Many were badly decomposed, and only 26 could be identified. Al Jazeera, citing Kenyan authorities, also said more than 400 people died, making it one of the country’s deadliest cult-related disasters.

Monday’s judgment covered 191 of those deaths. Investigations into the others are continuing.

People with direct knowledge of the cult told Reuters that Mackenzie planned the starvation in three phases: children first, then women and young men, then the remaining men. Some followers told Reuters in 2023 that the former taxi driver barred members from sending children to school or going to hospital, calling those institutions satanic. Members lived in makeshift homes of polythene sheeting and thatch, in areas he named after biblical places such as Jerusalem and Judea.

Why it matters: oversight of religious groups and unanswered questions

The case has put pressure on Kenya’s government. Both The Independent and The Guardian said it raised questions about how Mackenzie kept operating after police searched his premises in 2017 and after his church was shut in 2019. Al Jazeera reported that he had also been arrested and released on earlier occasions.

It has also fueled calls for tougher regulation of churches and other religious bodies in a country where faith plays a prominent role in public life. President William Ruto said in 2023 that government agencies should have been able to prevent the deaths and that he took responsibility as president.

For families, the verdict is a long-awaited moment. Francis Wanje, 62, lost eight relatives, including two grandchildren. Speaking before the ruling, he said the loss had weighed heavily on his family and caused serious psychological problems. “I was hoping for this particular day,” he said.

What happens next

Sentencing is set for Nov. 6. Mackenzie still faces other charges linked to the forest deaths, including terrorism-related counts, which he has denied. Prosecutors also say that while in detention he directed the deaths of 52 people in Kwa Binzaro village, about 30 km (18 miles) from Shakahola. He has pleaded not guilty in that case.

Sources: Al Jazeera, The Independent, The Guardian