Kenya starvation cult leader jailed for 200 years over deaths of 190 children

Kenya's Mombasa High Court on Friday sentenced cult leader Paul Mackenzie, who ordered the killing of 190 children by starving them to death, to 200 years in prison. Reading the verdict, Judge Diana Kavedza imposed 100 years for killing by starvation and a further 100 years for direct killings. More than 500 people are suspected to have been affected in what is considered one of the worst cult massacres in modern history.

Mackenzie, leader of an apocalyptic Christian sect that operated in the Shakahola Forest near Kenya's Indian Ocean coast, told his followers that to reach heaven before the end of the world they must starve themselves to death along with their children, prosecutors told the court.

His accomplices beat and intimidated victims to ensure the order was followed. Emaciated bodies were found dumped in shallow pits and latrines, and some people had been buried alive. "Those who stole food or water were beaten, their hands tied, locked in houses turned into fasting rooms and left to die; children watched their siblings die of hunger over many days," Judge Kavedza said in her ruling.

Mackenzie, who broadcast sermons on a YouTube channel with thousands of followers, denied the charge, saying he had never forced anyone to starve; the court rejected his defence. His 28 co-accused were sentenced to between 10 and 160 years; all had been found guilty at a trial last month. Defence lawyers said they would appeal.

The case shocked Kenya when police began uncovering bodies near the town of Malindi in April 2023. Although the trial covered 190 children and one adult, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights says a total of 448 bodies were found in the forest. The judge noted in her verdict that authorities had ignored repeated warning signs since 2017 and that the state had failed.