Kenyan Cult Leader Sentenced to 200 Years for Mass Starvation Deaths

A Kenyan court has sentenced the leader of a doomsday cult to 200 years in prison for the murders of 191 people, including 190 children, after he ordered his followers to starve themselves to death to meet Jesus. The High Court in Mombasa delivered the sentence on Friday against Pastor Paul Mackenzie, who headed the Good News International Church.

Justice Diana Kavedza stated that Mackenzie bore the "primary criminal culpability" for moving his followers to a remote location and instructing them to fast to death. The court found that 183 victims died of starvation, while eight others were murdered by direct homicide. The judge described the killings as "cold and calculated."

Mackenzie was charged alongside 28 followers, including guards who enforced the fasting directives and gravediggers who helped conceal mass graves. All denied the charges except one who confessed and sought leniency. On October 19, the court found all 29 guilty of murdering 191 people.

In 2023, more than 400 bodies were exhumed from shallow graves on the 800-acre Chakama Ranch in coastal Kilifi County, where Mackenzie's followers lived in mud huts isolated from local communities and authorities. Over 60 bodies have been identified and reburied by relatives, while many others remain unidentified.

Mackenzie also faces terrorism and manslaughter charges for more than 200 additional victims, as well as child abuse and torture charges in two other courts. The case has drawn international attention to the dangers of cult influence and the need for community oversight.