A Kenyan court sentenced doomsday cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison Friday for the murders of 190 children and one adult, more than three years after the discovery of hundreds of bodies in mass graves exposed one of the world's deadliest cult-related tragedies. The former taxi driver turned preacher had instructed followers to starve themselves and their families to death, promising they would ascend to heaven and meet Jesus.
The High Court in Mombasa imposed two consecutive 100-year prison terms: one for 183 murders committed through starvation, involving 182 children and one adult, and another for the direct killing of eight children. Mackenzie, who led the Good News International Church, was convicted alongside 28 accomplices. More than 400 bodies have been exhumed from graves associated with the cult since the investigation began in 2023.
A promise of heaven that ended in mass graves
The horrifying case first came to international attention in April 2023, when Kenyan police discovered mass graves in Shakahola Forest, near the coastal town of Malindi. An early count identified 89 bodies, but the number continued to climb as investigators uncovered burial sites across the remote area. Many victims had apparently starved themselves to death, while others were believed to have been deliberately deprived of food or physically killed.
Mackenzie, who became a preacher in the early 2000s and attracted followers through sermons broadcast on his own television channel, had convinced members of his extremist Christian sect that the end of the world was approaching. According to testimony, he encouraged them to move to his isolated compound in Shakahola Forest, presenting it as a refuge from the coming apocalypse. There, followers lived in areas given biblical names, including Nazareth, Bethlehem, Judea, Jericho, Jerusalem and Galilee.
The recovery of bodies from Shakahola Forest, Kenya, where the first police searches uncovered 89 victims of the starvation cult
(Photo: AP)
After baptizing followers in water reservoirs, Mackenzie instructed them to fast until they died, assuring them that their deaths would bring them closer to Jesus. According to testimony collected during the investigation, he eventually announced that the apocalypse would arrive on April 15, 2023, and accelerated preparations for what became a mass-death campaign.
Children were reportedly the first targets. Testimony cited by The New York Times indicated that some were forced to remain in the sun without food to hasten their deaths. Women were expected to follow, and then men. Under the alleged plan, Mackenzie himself was supposed to die last, after accompanying his followers toward what he described as their meeting with Jesus.
Years of warnings before the massacre
The tragedy provoked outrage in Kenya, particularly because authorities had received warnings about Mackenzie's activities years before the discovery of the graves. As early as 2017, police raided his compound and rescued dozens of children, some of whom said they had abandoned their families and schooling under his influence.
Mackenzie was arrested and released on several occasions before the mass graves were uncovered. In March 2023, he was detained over allegations that he had encouraged parents to kill their children through starvation and suffocation. He denied knowing about the parents' actions and was subsequently released on bail.
Investigators recover bodies from mass graves associated with the Good News International Church in Kenya
(Photo: AFP)
On April 14, 2023, police raided his compound after receiving information about conditions inside. Officers rescued 15 severely malnourished followers, but soon began discovering the graves of dozens of others. Eight additional survivors died in the following month from the effects of extreme malnutrition. Mackenzie later surrendered to authorities and was arrested along with other suspects.
The scale of the catastrophe shocked Kenya and prompted scrutiny of the authorities' failure to intervene earlier. Investigators found that the deaths were not limited to voluntary fasting. Some victims, including children, had been suffocated, strangled or killed through physical violence.
Mackenzie's legal troubles are not over. In addition to the murder convictions, he faces separate terrorism charges, which he denies, as well as further allegations connected to other deaths. Kenyan prosecutors have also linked him to the deaths of 52 people whose bodies were discovered in Kwa Binzaro, a village approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Shakahola. He denies those allegations.
Friday's sentencing marks a major milestone in a case that has haunted Kenya since 2023, exposing how a religious leader's promises of salvation became a system of starvation, coercion and mass killing.