OMM Newsroom
Kenyan courts have found cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 28 co-defendants guilty of murder over the deaths of 191 people, including 190 children, AnewZ reports. The case has drawn widespread attention internationally and exposed one of the deadliest cult-related tragedies in recent years.
The verdict concerns the deaths of followers of Mackenzie’s Good News International Church. Members were allegedly told to fast so they could reach heaven before the end of the world.
The ruling follows an investigation lasting more than three years into events in the remote Shakahola Forest in southeastern Kenya. Authorities launched a search operation in 2023 and discovered mass graves containing hundreds of bodies.
Mackenzie, a former taxi driver who later became a preacher, was arrested in 2023 after police received information that members of the group were taking part in dangerous religious practices. Investigators found shallow graves in the forest and eventually recovered more than 400 bodies from the area. Most of the victims were children.
Prosecutors said Mackenzie and other church members formed an apocalyptic sect that encouraged followers to starve themselves and their children because they believed the world was coming to an end.
The scale of the deaths has drawn attention in Kenya and abroad. The case has raised serious questions about oversight of religious organizations in the country and how Mackenzie was able to continue operating despite previous contact with authorities.
Throughout the trial, Mackenzie denied responsibility for the deaths and said he had not forced followers to refuse food. The court rejected that defense and found him and 28 others guilty of murder.
Evidence presented during the verdict hearing included accounts that some children had been isolated and denied food while adults were nearby. The judge said the deaths were not accidental but resulted from a deliberate system that caused vulnerable followers to starve to death.
Mackenzie is due to be sentenced on November 6. Defense lawyers said they would appeal the verdict. Mackenzie showed no apparent reaction when the verdict was announced, sitting beside his wife, who is among the defendants, and remaining silent when his name was read out.
For families who lost loved ones in Shakahola, the verdict marked an important milestone after years of grief. Francis Wanje, who lost eight relatives, including two grandchildren, as a result of the cult’s activities, said the decision had strengthened his confidence in Kenya’s justice system. He said he hoped the verdict would serve as a warning to religious groups that exploit their followers.
The case has sparked debate in Kenya about accountability, religious freedom and the need for stricter oversight of organizations operating in the name of religious belief.
The tragedy has also focused attention on the conduct of state authorities. Police records show that Mackenzie had come to the attention of law enforcement years before the bodies were discovered. According to the records, authorities shut down his church in 2019, after which it moved its activities to the forested Shakahola area.
Former followers and relatives of victims told investigators that Mackenzie discouraged members from sending their children to school or seeking medical care, saying those institutions conflicted with his religious teachings. The community established in the forest consisted of temporary settlements divided into sections bearing biblical names.
Investigators said the fasting campaign was carried out in stages: children were targeted first, followed by women and young men, with other followers expected to follow the same path afterward.
Monday’s verdict does not conclude the proceedings against Mackenzie. He faces additional charges linked to the cult-related deaths, including terrorism-related offenses, all of which he denies. Prosecutors have also alleged that followers continued to die as a result of instructions linked to Mackenzie even after his arrest.
Kenyan President William Ruto has previously acknowledged that state agencies should have acted sooner to prevent the tragedy, saying the government bore responsibility for failing to intervene before hundreds of people died.
As the investigation continues, the Shakahola case remains one of the most disturbing recent examples of how cult leaders can exploit vulnerable followers. Kenyan authorities are continuing to investigate the total number of deaths.
