A Kenyan court has sentenced cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison over the deaths of followers in the Shakahola forest, reports say.
The sentence is made up of 100 years for homicide and 100 years for starvation-related offences. Sentences within each category run concurrently and the two categories run consecutively, according to reports of the ruling.
What the court found
The convictions cover 191 victims, all but one of them children, according to the reports we reviewed. Figures in other reports vary between 190 and 193, and the number should be confirmed against the court record.
Justice Diana Mochache described the killings as “cold and calculated” and said Mackenzie bore the “primary criminal culpability”. As reported, the court found that the deaths resulted from an organised system of religious directives, and that most victims died of starvation while others died of suffocation, strangulation or head injuries.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty. The judge declined, saying it would remove any chance of rehabilitation. Kenya has not carried out an execution since 1987, according to reports.
Co-accused and other charges
Twenty-eight co-accused, including guards and gravediggers, received sentences of up to 160 years. Mackenzie also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism charges, which he denies. He is presumed innocent on those charges unless a court finds otherwise.
More than 400 bodies were found in shallow graves in Shakahola forest after his arrest in 2023, according to reports. Mackenzie founded Good News International Ministries in 2003.
What we do not yet know
- Whether Mackenzie or any co-accused will appeal; the reports we reviewed did not say.
- The exact number of victims covered by the convictions, given the differing figures.
- The date the remaining manslaughter and terrorism charges will be heard.
