Kenyan Cult Leader Paul Mackenzie Convicted of Murdering 190 Children and One Adult in Shakahola Starvation Case
By Naeema Saleem — SCN NEWS
MOMBASA, Kenya — A Kenyan court on Monday convicted self-proclaimed preacher Paul Mackenzie and about 30 associates of murder in the deaths of 190 children and one adult who were subjected to starvation in a remote forest, delivering a major verdict in a case that exposed one of the deadliest cult-related disasters in recent history. The ruling followed an extensive investigation into the Good News International Church, whose followers were instructed to deny themselves and their children food in the belief that they would reach heaven before the end of the world. More than 400 bodies have been recovered from the Shakahola Forest near Kenya's Indian Ocean coast, although Monday's judgment concerned 191 deaths.
High Court Judge Diana Kavedza Mochache delivered the ruling in Mombasa after a hearing lasting more than eight hours, finding that Mackenzie and his co-accused were responsible for deaths resulting from the religiously motivated starvation campaign. The court heard evidence that children were denied food, in some cases while their parents watched, and that the victims had no meaningful opportunity to refuse the restrictions imposed upon them. Mackenzie had denied the murder charges and maintained that he had not forced followers to starve, but the court rejected his defence.
The case began attracting national and international attention in April 2023 after police received information about suspected deaths among followers living in the Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County. Investigators subsequently discovered shallow graves containing human remains, leading to a large-scale recovery operation involving police, forensic specialists and government agencies. The discoveries revealed the extent of the deaths among members of the religious group, including numerous children, and prompted questions about how the activities had continued without effective intervention by authorities.
Prosecutors accused Mackenzie, the founder of the Good News International Church, of establishing a doomsday movement that instructed followers to starve themselves and their children so they could enter heaven before an anticipated apocalypse. The prosecution maintained that the deaths were not isolated acts of voluntary fasting but part of an organized system in which members of the group enforced the preacher's instructions. Evidence presented during the proceedings included accounts of children being deprived of food and testimony concerning the roles of different defendants in carrying out the instructions.
Mackenzie, a former taxi driver who became a preacher, established the Good News International Church in 2003 and attracted followers through sermons that increasingly focused on the end of the world. He later moved his religious activities into the Shakahola Forest, where followers lived away from surrounding communities. Investigators said his teachings discouraged formal education and modern medical treatment, while prosecutors alleged that his apocalyptic predictions were used to persuade families to participate in prolonged fasting that ultimately resulted in deaths.
The scale of the disaster became apparent as investigators continued recovering bodies from burial sites across the forest. Authorities eventually recovered more than 400 bodies, many in an advanced state of decomposition, complicating forensic identification and the process of establishing the circumstances surrounding individual deaths. Reuters reported that only 26 bodies had been identified, while investigations into deaths outside the 191 covered by Monday's judgment remained ongoing.
Relatives of the victims attended the proceedings in Mombasa, where families who had spent years seeking answers gathered to hear the court's decision. Among them was Francis Wanje, 62, who lost eight relatives, including two grandchildren, in the disaster. Wanje told Reuters before the verdict that the deaths had caused profound psychological suffering within his family and that he had been waiting for the court to deliver its decision.
The Shakahola deaths also raised serious concerns about failures by Kenyan authorities to detect and prevent abuses within the religious movement. President William Ruto acknowledged in May 2023 that government agencies should have identified the danger before the death toll reached such a scale, saying officials responsible for the failures would have to account for their actions. The investigation subsequently developed into a series of criminal proceedings involving Mackenzie and members of his organization, with prosecutors seeking to establish individual responsibility for the deaths.
Monday's conviction marks a major stage in the criminal proceedings arising from the Shakahola disaster, but it does not resolve every case connected to the mass graves. Authorities continue to investigate additional deaths among the hundreds of bodies recovered, while separate proceedings have addressed allegations involving the activities of the religious organization. The court's ruling establishes criminal responsibility for the 191 deaths considered in this trial, including those of 190 children, following years of investigation and legal proceedings.
The judgment brings a measure of legal accountability in a case that has left families seeking answers about relatives who disappeared into the forest and never returned. Further judicial proceedings and investigations remain relevant to determining responsibility for deaths beyond those covered by Monday's ruling, while the recovery and identification of victims continue to present challenges for Kenyan authorities.