In a landmark ruling delivered in Mombasa, Justice Diana Mochache found Paul Mackenzie guilty of murdering 191 people, the vast majority of whom were children. The former pastor of Good News International Ministries ordered his followers to starve their children to death so they could “meet Jesus” and declared modern medicine and education as evil.
Mackenzie’s doctrine, preached through his Times TV station and on his church’s sermons, urged followers to fast and forbade any use of medical treatment. Witnesses testified that a pregnant woman was denied nursing her newborn, who died twelve days later after being instructed to fast. The judge described burials in the forest as “weddings”, celebrating those who died as having “wedded with Jesus.”
Twenty-eight other cult leaders were also convicted of murder, all of whom pleaded not guilty and claimed no one was forced to die. Mackenzie’s former head of security, Enos Amanya Ngala, entered a plea deal and testified for the prosecution. The court also noted pending charges of terrorism, radicalisation and denial of education.
Investigators uncovered more than 400 bodies in shallow graves in Shakahola forest, where Mackenzie had led followers from across Kenya. Gravediggers paid as little as $8 a day to dig up graves containing multiple bodies, some of children as young as a few weeks old. Many remains remain unidentified due to advanced decomposition.
Victims’ families, including Stephen Mwiti who lost all six of his children, expressed relief that justice had been served. Mackenzie is scheduled for sentencing on 6 November.
Future court proceedings will determine the final sentence for Mackenzie and the other convicted leaders, while the Kenyan authorities continue to investigate the broader network of the cult.
