Paul Nthenge Mackenzie was the leader of a Kenyan fasting sect. His followers starved themselves to death. He and other defendants now have to stand trial again – this time for the murder of 191 children.
He has already been charged with terrorism, manslaughter and torture and ill-treatment – now there is another charge against the Kenyan cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie. The court charged him and several other suspects with 191 counts of murder.
Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023. Hundreds of bodies had previously been discovered in a forest. Autopsies revealed that the majority of the 429 victims had starved to death. Others, including children, appeared to have been strangled, beaten or suffocated. The case became known as the “Shakahola Forest Massacre.” The murder charge relates to 191 children found in this forest.
The self-proclaimed pastor and 29 other defendants pleaded not guilty in court. One suspect was deemed unfit to stand trial but was ordered to appear in court again in a month.
Sect classified as an “organized criminal group.”
After the case became known, the government announced stricter cult laws. There are more than 4,000 registered churches in Kenya and there are also self-proclaimed priests and alleged religious communities founded by criminals. Court documents describe the International Priesthoods of Good News founded by Mackenzie as an “organized criminal group.”
Mackenzie is said to have convinced his followers that Jesus’ return was imminent and that they would get to heaven faster if they fasted themselves to death. He forbade his followers to send children to school. Those who joined him gave up their previous life and usually broke off contact with their family. Mackenzie had previously been reported several times for false teachings, among other things, but was always released due to lack of evidence. The case raised the question of how Mackenzie was able to avoid prosecution for so long.
A Senate committee found in October that the father of seven had already been charged in 2017 for his extreme teachings but not convicted. Mackenzie was not stopped by an investigation initiated in 2019 into the deaths of two children who apparently had to go hungry and then suffocated. He was released on bail until the trial began.