Kenya cult leader convicted of murdering 191 followers, 190 of them children, who starved to death

Paul Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church. [AP]

A Kenyan cult leader who taught his followers that they must starve to death to enter heaven has been convicted of murder in the deaths of 191 people, including 190 children.

Judge Diana Kavedja Mochache of the Mombasa High Court found Paul Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, and 28 senior church members guilty on all 191 counts of murder, according to the Guardian and BBC on Monday (local time). Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 6.

Kenyan prosecutors said Mackenzie had instructed his followers to starve themselves and their children to death so they could reach heaven before the end of the world. Mackenzie denied the charges, claiming he had not forced anyone to fast, but the court rejected his defense.

Judge Mochache spent more than eight hours reading the verdict. She said some children had been isolated and denied food while their parents watched.

The court found that Mackenzie had used religious teachings and the church's hierarchical structure to compel followers to fast, and that this coercion led directly to the mass deaths, according to prosecutors.

The fasting began with children, and investigators found that guards had prevented followers from escaping. More than 120 witnesses testified at trial about events that took place between 2021 and 2023 on a farm in a forest near a coastal town in southeastern Kenya.

Mackenzie appeared in court wearing a striped polo shirt and red trousers, seated beside his wife, who is a co-defendant. He stared silently into the distance until the verdict was delivered. Relatives of those who died in the forest also attended the hearing.

Francis Wanje, 62, who lost eight family members including two grandchildren, said before the verdict that the ordeal had been "a very heavy thing as a family" and had caused him great psychological suffering, adding that he had been waiting for the day. Mackenzie's son, Dan Paul Mackenzie, also said ahead of the ruling that his father deserved to be convicted of mass murder.

Dozens of bodies believed to be followers of Paul Mackenzie are seen after being discovered. [AP]

Mackenzie's crimes came to light in mid-March 2023, when a resident reported to police that his brother and sister-in-law had starved their children to death in a forest. Police arrested Mackenzie in April of that year and launched a full search of the forest, unearthing a mass grave.

A total of 429 bodies have been recovered from the forest so far, but only 26 have been identified, as many were severely decomposed.

Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, founded the church in 2003. He called schools and hospitals "institutions of Satan" and instructed followers not to send their children to school or seek medical care when ill.

Followers lived in huts built from plastic sheeting and straw, and Mackenzie divided the settlement into sections named after biblical places such as Jerusalem and Judea. Those familiar with the case said Mackenzie had planned the mass starvation in three stages — beginning with children, followed by women and young men, and then the remaining men.

Mackenzie also faces separate charges related to terrorism. Prosecutors believe he directed the deaths of 52 people in a village about 30 kilometers from Shakahola while he was already in custody. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

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