Mackenzie Sentenced to 200 Years in Kenya
A Kenyan court sentenced self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison on Friday for the murder of 190 children and one adult in the Shakahola starvation cult, one of the deadliest cult cases on record.
The High Court in Mombasa imposed 100 years for the homicide charges and 100 years for the starvation charges. Twenty-eight co-accused received a range of lengthy prison terms. Mackenzie was convicted last month of murdering 191 people between January 2021 and September 2023, and his lawyer has said he will appeal. He also faces manslaughter and terrorism charges in other trials, which he denies.
Prosecutors had asked for the death penalty, citing the scale of the killings, and for life sentences for the co-accused, arguing they had been “deeply indoctrinated” and could reoffend. Kenya’s law provides for the death penalty, but the country has not carried out an execution since 1987. Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, arrived in court wearing a polo shirt and a faint smile.
Hundreds of bodies have been found since 2023 at the sect’s base near the coastal resort of Malindi, in what became known as the Shakahola Forest massacre. Mackenzie was accused of urging followers to starve themselves to “meet Jesus.” Witnesses said the movement denounced formal education as “satanic,” treated modern medicine as the devil’s tool and required followers to cut themselves off from the outside world.
About 120 prosecution witnesses testified. Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after a rights group alerted authorities and some followers were rescued from the 325-hectare ranch. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights put the death toll at 429 in 2024, and some victims remain unidentified.
Francis Wanje, a 62-year-old teacher who lost two grandchildren, told AFP he had hoped for a death sentence to prevent further tragedies. “Nothing can ease the pain,” he said, and blamed the authorities for failing to act swiftly. The case has fuelled calls for tighter regulation of religious organisations, after it emerged that Mackenzie had been arrested twice before and released.
