Shakahola deaths: Kenyan pastor accused of killing 190 children faces verdict
A Kenyan court has begun delivering its verdict in the murder trial of doomsday preacher Paul Mackenzie, who is accused alongside 29 followers of killing 191 people, all but one of them children.
A Kenyan court has begun delivering its verdict in the murder trial of doomsday preacher Paul Mackenzie, who is accused alongside 29 followers of killing 191 people, all but one of them children.
The prosecution alleges that Mackenzie and other leaders of his religious group encouraged followers to starve themselves and their children to death so they could meet Jesus. Mackenzie and the other defendants have pleaded not guilty, maintaining that nobody was forced to die.
The case relates to deaths in Shakahola forest near Kenya's coast, where authorities say more than 400 bodies were discovered in shallow graves after Mackenzie encouraged his followers to relocate there.
It is the first time Mackenzie has faced a verdict on the most serious murder charges against him. He and other members of the group also face separate legal proceedings involving allegations of terrorism, radicalisation and denying children access to education.
How the Shakahola deaths unfolded
Mackenzie established Good News International Ministries in 2003. Over the following years, the church attracted thousands of followers through branches across Kenya and operated a television station, Times TV, which broadcast his sermons.
His preaching reportedly included claims that formal education was evil, healthcare was contrary to religious doctrine and digital identity cards represented the mark of the devil. After the church's main operations shut down in 2019, Mackenzie moved to Shakahola forest and encouraged followers to join him.
The community lived in mud houses scattered across the forest, with some members practising prolonged fasting. According to accounts from survivors, the group's beliefs discouraged the use of modern medicine.
The first remains were discovered by local herders in March 2023, prompting investigations that uncovered hundreds of bodies.
Survivors and families recount their losses
The case has exposed the devastating consequences of the group's practices for families who followed Mackenzie's teachings.
Stephen Mwiti, 48, told the BBC that he lost all six of his children after they entered the cult's community in Shakahola. He said he had only recovered and buried the remains of his son, Samuel.
Mwiti blamed a television set in his home in the coastal town of Malindi for introducing the family to Mackenzie's teachings.
His former wife is among the people accused alongside the preacher.
Former followers have also described how the rejection of medicine contributed to suffering within the community.
Peter Shukrani, who joined Mackenzie's church as a child, said his mother threw away medication he needed because she believed that only God could heal him.
Shukrani was among those rescued from the forest in March 2023.
"I would have died if I wasn't rescued from Shakahola forest," he told the BBC.
Despite his experiences, he continues to defend Mackenzie, saying followers made their own decisions about fasting and insisting that the preacher did not force anyone to participate.
Mackenzie's son, Dan Paul Mackenzie, takes a different view. He told the BBC that his father should be found guilty, arguing that the preacher was responsible because followers looked up to him as their leader.
The investigation and the trial
The scale of the deaths has complicated the investigation. Many of the bodies remain unidentified because of advanced decomposition, with court documents identifying some victims only by the location of their graves and the dates their remains were discovered.
Gravediggers hired to exhume bodies described finding several victims in individual graves, including children whose bodies were reportedly bound or wrapped in bedsheets.
Mackenzie's former head of security, Enos Amanya Ngala, was initially accused in the case but later entered a plea deal and became a prosecution witness.
The murder proceedings are part of a wider series of cases against Mackenzie and other alleged leaders of the group.
The verdict will determine the outcome of the murder charges against the defendants. The supplied report does not establish the court's final decision or whether all the accused will be found guilty.