Kenyan Cult Leader Found Guilty Of 191 Murders, Most Of Them Children
A Kenyan pastor who allegedly ordered his followers to starve their children to death has been found guilty of murdering 191 people in a case linked to the Shakahola forest massacre. Paul Mackenzie and 28 other cult leaders were convicted after a court heard disturbing accounts of how followers were allegedly forced to fast in the belief that they would meet Jesus.
Mackenzie is due to be sentenced on 6 November 2026. The verdict marks a major development in one of Kenya’s most shocking criminal cases, which came to light after hundreds of bodies were discovered in shallow graves in 2023.
Paul Mackenzie Convicted In Shakahola Forest Massacre
Delivering an eight-hour judgment in Mombasa, Justice Diana Mochache said Mackenzie’s followers regarded him as “Jesus’s mouthpiece”.
The court heard that the cult prohibited education and discouraged modern medicine. Prosecutors presented evidence of deaths linked to starvation and violence.
One of Mackenzie’s co-accused reportedly described how followers who resisted fasting were treated.
“Anyone who resisted the directive to fast must be forced to go to heaven through kicks and blows.”
The court also heard that burials in the forest were referred to as “weddings”, with the dead believed to have joined Jesus.
Father Loses Six Children In Cult Tragedy
The case has left families devastated. Stephen Mwiti, 48, said he lost all six of his children in the forest. His former wife was among those convicted alongside Mackenzie.
Speaking outside court, Mwiti welcomed the verdict.
“I’m a happy man, that all persons have been convicted,” he told the BBC.
More than 400 bodies were discovered in Shakahola forest near Kenya’s coast after Mackenzie’s arrest in 2023. Many victims remain unidentified.
Mackenzie Faces Further Legal Cases
Mackenzie founded Good News International Ministries in 2003 before moving his followers to Shakahola forest after his church closed in 2019.
He and other leaders also face separate cases involving terrorism, radicalisation and denying children an education. The upcoming sentencing will determine the punishment for the murder convictions.
The post Kenyan Pastor Found Guilty Of Murdering 191 People, Most Of Them Children appeared first on iHarare News.
