Paul Mackenzie Sentenced to 200 Years in Prison for Shakahola Cult Murders

Paul Mackenzie sentenced to 200 years in prison on Friday by a Kenyan court for the murder of 191 people — 190 children and one adult — who were starved to death on his orders in the Shakahola forest, in one of the worst mass killings by a religious cult in modern times.

FAKTA

• Sentence: 200 years in prison — 100 years for murder by starvation and 100 years for direct homicide.
• Judge: Justice Diana Kavedza, Mombasa High Court, Friday, November 6, 2026.
• Victims: 191 people — 190 children and one adult — covered by the trial; 448 bodies were recovered from Shakahola Forest.
• Suspected total: 500 victims, including 52 people found at a separate site about 30 km away.
• Conviction: Mackenzie and 28 co-accused were convicted on October 19, 2026, on 191 counts of murder.
• Prosecution: Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Mackenzie.

Paul Mackenzie Sentenced to 200 Years: The Court’s Decision

The sentence was handed down at the Mombasa High Court, where Justice Diana Kavedza read out the judgment. The 200-year term is made up of 100 years for murder by starvation and 100 years for direct homicide.

Mackenzie, wearing a grey polo shirt and black trousers, smiled as he entered a tent set up outside the court where the hearing was held. He had denied the murder charges, saying he did not force the victims to starve, but the court rejected his defence.

Prosecutors had asked the court to sentence Mackenzie to death, arguing that the nature of the crimes and their impact on society justified the harshest possible punishment. He was sentenced alongside more than two dozen co-accused who were convicted with him.

A Tragedy That Shocked Kenya

The case shocked Kenya in April 2023, when police began uncovering bodies in Shakahola Forest near the coastal town of Malindi. Mackenzie led an apocalyptic church, the Good News International Church, in a forest near Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, and had told his followers to starve themselves to death, along with their children, to reach heaven before the end of the world.

Prosecutors said his accomplices threatened and beat victims to ensure they followed his orders. The emaciated bodies were found scattered in shallow graves and dumped in latrines. Some had been buried alive.

Although only the cases of 190 children and one adult victim were covered by the trial, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights says 448 bodies were ultimately found in the forest. The scale of the killing is comparable to that of a doomsday cult that killed more than 700 people in Uganda in 2000, and the 1978 Jonestown massacre in Guyana, when an American cult leader killed more than 900 people.

Families of the Victims Speak

Stephen Mwiti, 48, lost six of his children to the cult. His wife had taken the children to Shakahola, where they were starved to death, and she is among those convicted with Mackenzie.

“I lost children and I will not be able to get them back no matter what happens to Mackenzie and his accomplices,” Mwiti told Reuters ahead of the sentencing. “I expect him to be sentenced to death or be jailed for life so that he never comes out to cause more deaths.”

Dan Mackenzie, one of Paul Mackenzie’s sons, said his father did not spare his own family. He said he had left the church because he no longer believed in its teachings about going to heaven.

“I lost friends too, and my younger brother. It’s justice to the people who we lost over there in Shakahola.”

Calls for Wider Accountability

Mackenzie had been on the radar of the authorities since 2017, when his premises were searched by police. In 2019, authorities shut down his church in Malindi and he relocated to the nearby Shakahola Forest.

The discoveries prompted calls for tighter oversight of religious groups. President William Ruto appointed a task force in May 2023 to review the legal and regulatory framework, and separate government-backed and Senate proposals were published in 2024, though they have yet to be passed into law.

Ojiro Odhiambo, head of rapid response at the Kenya Human Rights Commission, said the conviction was an important step but accountability should go further, as local administrators, police, intelligence officers and religious leaders bore responsibility for failing to act on repeated warning signs.

“All these people have failed the people,” he said.

In 2023, Ruto said he took responsibility as president for the government having failed to prevent the deaths.

What Happens Next

Mackenzie is also accused of ordering the deaths of 52 people found at a separate location in a village about 30 km away, which would bring the suspected total toll to 500. He has pleaded not guilty in that case.

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