Kenyan Doomsday Cult Leader Sentenced to 200 Years for Starving 191 Followers to Death

A Kenyan court on Friday sentenced self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for the murder of 191 people—190 of them children—in one of the deadliest cult-related mass killings in modern history.

Justice Diana Kavedza of the Mombasa High Court handed Mackenzie 100 years for murder by starvation and a consecutive 100 years for direct homicide, bringing his aggregate term to 200 years . The court declined prosecutors' request for the death penalty, which has not been carried out in Kenya since 1987 .

Mackenzie, wearing a grey polo shirt, showed no reaction as the sentence was read in a tent outside the courtroom . His lawyer, Lawrence Obonyo, said he would appeal .

A Systematic Campaign of Starvation

The convictions, delivered on 19 October, followed an eight-hour judgment in which the court found that Mackenzie led Good News International Ministries and directed followers to fast to death so they could "meet Jesus" . The fasting regime began with children, then moved to youth, women, men, and finally Mackenzie and his own family .

Those who resisted were beaten, tied up, or locked in houses. The court heard that followers were told anyone who "resisted the directive to fast must be forced to go to heaven through kicks and blows" . Burials inside the forest were referred to as "weddings," and the dead were celebrated as having "wedded with Jesus" .

Post-mortem examinations established starvation as the cause of death for most victims whose cause could be determined. Others died from asphyxia, manual neck compression, or traumatic head injuries. For 110 counts, decomposition made the cause undeterminable, but the court inferred starvation from eyewitness accounts and the pattern of deaths .

The court rejected the defence argument that victims fasted voluntarily. Newborns and toddlers could not consent, the judge ruled, and children aged six to ten could not grasp that death was permanent. Older children who tried to escape, stole food, or drank water were punished .

The Scale of the Shakahola Tragedy

The case emerged in April 2023 when police, acting on a tip from a rights group, began exhuming bodies from shallow and mass graves in Shakahola Forest near the coastal town of Malindi . Investigators ultimately recovered 429 bodies, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights . Some victims had been buried alive; others were found emaciated but still breathing, only to die shortly after rescue .

The 191 murder counts covered in this trial represented only a fraction of the suspected death toll. Mackenzie also faces separate charges related to 52 deaths at a location 30 kilometres away, bringing the suspected total to approximately 500 . He has pleaded not guilty in that case, as well as to separate manslaughter and terrorism charges .

Twenty-eight co-accused—including guards who enforced the fasting orders and gravediggers who concealed the bodies—received sentences ranging from 10 to 160 years . Two of Mackenzie's co-accused each received 160-year terms .

A Failure of Oversight

The massacre has exposed grievous failures by local administration and law enforcement. Mackenzie had been on the authorities' radar since 2017, when police searched his premises. His church in Malindi was shut down in 2019, prompting his relocation to Shakahola Forest . Yet he was arrested and released for lack of evidence before the 2023 discovery .

Francis Wanje, a 62-year-old teacher who lost two grandchildren in the forest, told the BBC he had reported the case to police in March 2023. "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 . Wanje said he had hoped for a death sentence to prevent further tragedies .

Stephen Mwiti, whose wife took their six children to Shakahola where they starved to death, told Reuters ahead of the sentencing: "I lost children and I will not be able to get them back no matter what happens to Mackenzie and his accomplices" .

The discoveries prompted President William Ruto to appoint a task force in May 2023 to review the legal and regulatory framework for religious organisations. Government-backed and Senate proposals were published in 2024, but neither has been passed into law .

A History of Radicalisation

Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, established Good News International Ministries in 2003. Over 16 years, the church grew in popularity, drawing thousands of followers to branches across Kenya. His sermons, broadcast on a television station called Times TV, described education as "evil," healthcare as "against the doctrine," and digital identity cards as "the mark of the devil" .

The main church shut down in 2019, and Mackenzie moved to Shakahola Forest, encouraging devotees to follow him. They settled in twelve villages across roughly 4,860 acres .

As the sentence was delivered, Suleiman Zero, whose wife and six children remain missing, wept outside court. "I am happy, but where is my family?" he said. "The one thing that I request from the government is that they help find my family. If they are dead, then let me have the bodies to bury" .