Kenyan starvation cult leader jailed for 200 years over murders of 190 children

A self-proclaimed Kenyan preacher was sentenced to 200 years in prison on Friday for the murder of 190 children and one adult in an infamous starvation cult.

Hundreds of bodies have been discovered since 2023 at the sect's base near the coastal resort of Malindi, in what became known as the "Shakahola Forest Massacre".

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, was accused of inciting his followers to starve themselves to death to "meet Jesus".

He was convicted last month of murdering 191 people between January 2021 and September 2023, alongside 28 co-accused. 

On Friday, the court sentenced him to 100 years for the homicide charges and 100 years for the starvation charges, while his accomplices -- many of whom starved their own children to death -- received a variety of lengthy prison terms.

"Children observed siblings drop dead... as their parents ate and drank," the judge said.

"Some died as a result of strangulation, severely beaten... Children were subjected to extreme suffering... terrifying living conditions, psychological trauma." 

Mackenzie was impassive as the sentence was read out, as he had been throughout the trial. 

Prosecutors had called for the death penalty, but the judge said it would "fail to achieve deterrence, particularly where the convicts regard death as a pathway to heaven and a union with Jesus and their deceased children."

Kenya has the death penalty but has not carried out an execution since 1987.

Francis Wanje, a 62-year-old teacher who lost two grandchildren to the cult, told AFP he had hoped Mackenzie would be sentenced to death to prevent further tragedies.

Another of his grandchildren, now 11, went without food for eight days before being rescued in March 2023.

He testified that his brothers, aged two and five, had died after their parents, acting on the guru's orders, forbade them from eating or drinking.

"Nothing can ease the pain," said Wanje, who blamed authorities for failing to act swiftly.

"I really have great (anger) towards the authorities. If they had taken action, we would not be here today," he added.

Death penalty

Mackenzie's lawyer said he would appeal the verdict. He also faces manslaughter and terrorism charges in other trials, which he denies.

Around 120 prosecution witnesses testified during the trial.

According to witnesses, the movement denounced formal education as "satanic", viewed modern medicine and hospitals as instruments of the devil and required followers to cut themselves off from the outside world.

Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after a rights group alerted authorities and some followers were rescued from the 325-hectare (800-acre) ranch in the Shakahola forest on Kenya's coast.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights put the death toll at 429 in 2024. Some victims remain unidentified.

The case has fuelled calls for tighter regulation of religious organisations, after it emerged that Mackenzie had previously been arrested twice but released.

He established the Good News International Church in 2003 and set up branches in Nairobi and along Kenya's coast that attracted thousands of devotees, though he claimed it closed in 2019.

He was arrested in 2017 over charges of "radicalisation" but was acquitted. He was arrested again in 2019 in relation to two child deaths at Shakahola but released on bail.