Shakahola verdict convicts Kenyan cult leader over 191 murders

The verdict

The Shakahola verdict arrived on Monday after a day-long judgment session at the Mombasa High Court, where starvation cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 28 co-accused were found guilty of 191 counts of murder over the deaths of 190 children and one adult. Presiding judge Diana Kavedza Mochache ruled that Mackenzie's Good News International Church ran an organized system that enforced fatal fasting, according to reporting by Reuters. The convictions cover deaths that occurred between January 2021 and September 2023 in the Shakahola Forest of Kilifi County, in what Reuters called among the worst cult-related tragedies in recent history.

Mackenzie, a former taxi driver who founded his ministry in 2003, sat in court beside his wife, who is among the co-accused. He denied the charges throughout the trial, arguing he never forced followers to starve. The court rejected that defense, finding that religious teachings and a chain of command directed the fasting. Sentencing is set for November 6, after a mitigation hearing on October 30. Defense lawyer Lawrence Obonyo said his clients were disappointed and had instructed him to appeal.

How the fasting order worked

Prosecutors told the court the starvation was not voluntary. They said Mackenzie and his associates organized a Christian doomsday sect that ordered followers to starve themselves and their children to death so they could meet Jesus before the end of the world. Village elders passed down the instructions at regular meetings, and guards controlled movement around the settlement to stop followers from leaving, Soo TV reported from the judgment. Followers who tried to obtain food or escape were punished, according to evidence presented at trial.

The order in which people died was deliberate, the court found. The fasting began with children, followed by teenagers and women, then men. In some cases children were isolated and denied food while their parents watched. Followers were also told to reject formal schooling and modern medical treatment. Investigators said the operation ran from Mackenzie's 800-acre ranch inside the forest, where the judge found that "once at the settlement, they were directed to fast."

The prosecution built its case on testimony from 123 witnesses, forensic DNA results, medical examination reports, digital records, and evidence recovered from the graves. Postmortem examinations attributed 76 deaths to starvation, while 112 were listed as undetermined because many bodies were too decomposed for a clear finding.

Missed warnings and a toll still being counted

The case has gripped Kenya since police, acting on a tip-off, arrested Mackenzie and weeks later began uncovering shallow graves near the coastal town of Malindi. Authorities have since recovered more than 400 bodies from the forest, though only 26 could be positively identified. Monday's judgment addressed part of that toll; investigations into the remaining deaths continue, and Kenya's People Daily reported that separate inquiries into other grave sites are still open.

Mackenzie had been on the authorities' radar long before the graves were found. Police searched his premises in 2017, and in 2019 officials shut down his church, after which he moved his followers into the forest. President William Ruto has previously acknowledged that government institutions failed to prevent the deaths. The failure to stop Mackenzie sooner is now driving debate in Kenya over tighter oversight of religious institutions and stronger protections for vulnerable followers, a conversation followed closely in politics coverage as well.

For the families, the verdict brought long-awaited accountability. Francis Wanje, 62, who lost eight family members including two grandchildren to the cult, was in court for the ruling. He told Reuters the judgment made him happy and gave him confidence in the judiciary, adding that "so many are going to learn" from the case and that the public should be "very careful" about churches with ill motives. Kenya's Director of Public Prosecutions, Renson Ingonga, called the convictions a significant achievement given the number of charges, accused and witnesses.

Mackenzie still faces separate proceedings on manslaughter and terrorism charges, which he has denied. With more graves under investigation, prosecutors say further trials will follow. For the families who waited years for DNA results or buried relatives they could not identify, the sentencing will be the next milestone. Read more world coverage.