A Kenyan court has sentenced doomsday cult leader, Paul Mackenzie, to 200 years in prison for the murder of 191 people, 190 of whom were children, after directing his followers to starve their children to death in the belief that they would “meet Jesus”.
Mackenzie was convicted alongside 28 accomplices for their roles in the killings, which Justice Diana Mochache described as one of the country’s most horrific cases of religious extremism.
The judge said the cult leader bore the “primary criminal culpability” for instructing his followers to fast to death.
“The sentence is appropriate and just, to send an unmistakable message that such atrocities warrant the maximum penalties allowed by law,” the judge added.
The court handed Mackenzie 100 years imprisonment for homicide and another 100 years for offences relating to starvation.
Although the sentences within each category will run concurrently, the two categories will run consecutively, resulting in a total prison term of 200 years.
The self-styled pastor was arrested in 2023 following the discovery of more than 400 bodies in shallow graves in Shakahola forest near the Kenyan coast.
The gruesome findings sparked widespread outrage and drew international attention to the activities of the cult.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, arguing that the scale and circumstances of the killings justified the harshest punishment.
However, Justice Mochache declined to impose capital punishment, despite acknowledging that the case met the threshold for its consideration.
“Nevertheless, the court declines the invitation to impose the death penalty on any of the victims,” she said, adding that capital punishment would eliminate any prospect of rehabilitation and disengagement.
Kenya has not carried out an execution since 1987.
Mackenzie’s co-defendants, including guards who enforced the fasting orders and gravediggers who helped conceal the bodies, received varying prison terms of up to 160 years.
The judge described the killings as “cold and calculated”, noting that the perpetrators showed no remorse and had even expressed willingness to starve themselves to death.
Before the sentencing hearing on Friday, Francis Wanje, who lost eight relatives, including two grandchildren, in Shakahola forest, told the BBC’s Newsday programme that he was “hoping for… a sentence which will match his [Mackenzie’s] deeds in the forest”.
Mackenzie and the other defendants had appealed for leniency.
Before their conviction on October 19, they all pleaded not guilty and repeatedly maintained that nobody was forced to die.
During the court proceedings, Justice Mochache said Mackenzie’s followers believed he was “Jesus’s mouthpiece”.
The judge also found that individuals who opposed his teachings were beaten to death.
One of Mackenzie’s co-accused admitted that the cult leader had instructed his followers that anyone who “resisted the directive to fast must be forced to go to heaven through kicks and blows”.
According to the judge, burials in the forest where the cult operated were referred to as “weddings”, while those who died “were celebrated as having wedded with Jesus”.
The court established that the deaths resulted from an organised system of religious teachings and directives that compelled followers to engage in deadly fasting.
Post-mortem examinations showed that most victims died from starvation, while others succumbed to suffocation, strangulation or head injuries.
The cause of death could not be established for some victims because their bodies had decomposed.
Others died shortly after being rescued due to extreme emaciation.
The Shakahola killings have raised concerns over the lack of oversight of religious activities in Kenya and how the cult’s operations continued for an extended period without intervention.
The severity of the case prompted President William Ruto to establish a commission of inquiry, although it was later declared unconstitutional.
Investigations by the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights revealed that local administration and law enforcement officials had repeatedly ignored the cult’s activities.
Wanje said he reported the case to the police in March 2023 but expected authorities to act immediately to rescue other members of the group.
“We expected at that time the police would take action immediately to go and rescue the other members there, but it didn’t happen,” he said.
He explained that a relative in the police force and a former cult member had managed to rescue his grandson.
The child subsequently informed the police about what had happened and led them to the graves of his siblings.
“It was [supposed to be] his last day.. they [would have killed] my grandson.”
Mackenzie had previously been arrested but was released due to a lack of evidence.
He founded Good News International Ministries in 2003, and the church grew over the next 16 years, attracting thousands of followers through its branches across Kenya.
The church operated a television station, Times TV, which broadcast his sermons from Malindi.
His End Days teachings included conspiracy theories describing education as “evil”, healthcare as “against the doctrine” and digital identity cards as “the mark of the devil”.
The church was shut down in 2019, after which Mackenzie relocated to Shakahola forest and encouraged his followers to join him.
Although the conclusion of the murder cases may bring some relief to victims’ families, the convictions cover only 191 victims, despite more than 400 bodies having been exhumed from the forest.
