Kenyan Court Convicts Starvation Cult Leader Of Murdering 191 People

A court in Kenya has convicted self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie and 28 of his associates of murdering 191 people, nearly all of them children, in a starvation cult that shocked the country.

The verdict was delivered on Monday at a court in Mombasa, where the defendants were found guilty over deaths linked to the Good News International Church, a religious sect accused of directing followers to starve themselves and their children to death to gain entry into heaven before the world ended.

Mackenzie and his associates allegedly convinced followers that extreme fasting would enable them to “meet Jesus” before the end of the world.

The court dismissed Mackenzie’s claim that he did not force the victims to starve. The defendants had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The court said Mackenzie and the other convicted defendants would be sentenced on November 6.

Police arrested Mackenzie in 2023 after receiving a tip-off, following which authorities began uncovering bodies in shallow graves in the Shakahola Forest near Kenya’s southeastern coast.

More than 400 people died in the Shakahola tragedy, according to Kenyan authorities, making it one of the country’s deadliest cult-related disasters.

Investigations uncovered mass graves and evidence of severe malnutrition, triggering nationwide outrage and renewed scrutiny of religious extremism and the government’s failure to detect the group’s activities earlier.

Prosecutors told the court that Mackenzie had “initiated and directed” extreme fasting at his 800-acre (325-hectare) ranch in Shakahola Forest.

They described a “structured hierarchy of death” under which children were expected to die first, followed by teenagers, women and men.

The defendants have also faced other cases involving allegations of terrorism, radicalisation and preventing children from accessing education.

Since the discovery of the bodies three years ago, there have been calls for the government to impose stricter regulations on religious organisations. It also emerged that Mackenzie had been arrested twice in the past but was subsequently released.

Family members of the victims attended Monday’s court session to hear the verdict.

Francis Wanje, who lost eight family members, including two grandchildren, to the cult, described the psychological toll the tragedy had taken on his family.

“It has been really a heavy thing (for) us as a family, and it has really taken us very far in terms of psychological problems,” the 62-year-old said.