Kenyan doomsday cult leader given life sentence for murdering 191 people

ByBasillioh Rukanga Reporting fromNairobi. 6 November 2026, 08: 59 GMT.

Key points

• The self-styled pastor was arrested in 2023 after the discovery of more than 400 bodies in shallow graves in Shakahola forest near the Kenyan coast.
• The main church shut down in 2019 and Mackenzie moved to Shakahola forest, encouraging his devotees to follow him.
• Alongside 27 others, Mackenzie was discovered guilty of the murders for instructing members of his cult to starve their children to death so they could "meet Jesus".
• Justice Diana Mochache remarked Mackenzie bore the "primary criminal culpability" for ordering his followers to fast to death, in one of Kenya's deadliest episodes of religious extremism.
• Mackenzie's followers believed he was "Jesus's mouthpiece", Justice Diana Mochache remarked as she delivered her eight-hour judgement last month.

Meanwhile, a Kenyan court has sentenced the leader of a doomsday cult, Paul Mackenzie, to 200 years in prison for murdering 191 individuals, all but one of them children.

"The sentence is appropriate and just, to send an unmistakable message that such atrocities warrant the maximum penalties allowed by law, " the judge continued.

Notably, the self-styled pastor was arrested in 2023 after the discovery of more than 400 bodies in shallow graves in Shakahola forest near the Kenyan coast. The sprawling investigation into the cases shocked Kenya and drew international attention.

Ahead of sentencing, prosecutors in the court in Mombasa had argued for the death penalty for Mackenzie since of the gravity of the crimes. Capital punishment has not been carried out in Kenya since 1987.

In practice, the prosecutors additionally cited what they described as Mackenzie's lack of remorse for the crimes. They requested life sentences for his co-accused.

Before the hearing began on Friday morning, Francis Wanje. This person lost eight relatives in Shakahola forest, including two grandchildren, informed the BBC's Newsday programme that he was "hoping for. A sentence which will match his deeds in the forest".

Mackenzie and the co-accused have formally pleaded for mercy and asked for leniency from the court.

Before their conviction on 19 October, they had all pleaded not guilty and repeatedly insisted that nobody was forced to die.

Mackenzie's followers believed he was "Jesus's mouthpiece", Justice Diana Mochache remarked as she delivered her eight-hour judgement last month. Those who resisted Mackenzie's teachings were beaten to death.

One of his co-accused remarked he had informed his followers that anyone who "resisted the directive to fast must be forced to go to heaven through kicks and blows".

Burials inside the forest where the cult was based were called "weddings" and those who died "were celebrated as having wedded with Jesus" the judge remarked.

Notably, the judge discovered that the deaths arose from an organised system, including religious teachings and directives that compelled followers to follow the deadly fasting.

While others died from suffocation, strangulation or head injuries, post-mortem results indicated the cause of deaths to be starvation for most victims.

While others died shortly after their rescue as they were so emaciated, the cause of death could not be determined for some, with their bodies having decomposed.

For context, the Shakahola deaths have shone a spotlight on the lack of oversight of rogue religious activities and how they could have carried on for so long.

Although this was afterwards declared unconstitutional, the gravity of the case prompted President William Ruto to set up a commission of inquiry.

Investigations by the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) made public that local administration and law enforcement office-holders had repeatedly turned a blind eye to the cult's activities.

"We expected at that time the police would take action immediately to go and rescue the other members there, but it didn't happen", notes Wanje, who noted the case to the police in March 2023.

Wanje notes a relative of his in the police force and a former cult participant managed to save his grandson at the time. The child informed the police what had happened and demonstrated them the grave of his siblings. "It was his last day. They my grandson."

Notably, the cult leader had previously been arrested and afterwards issued for lack of evidence. Mackenzie established Good News International Ministries in 2003.

Over the next 16 years, the church grew in popularity, drawing thousands of followers in its branches throughout Kenya.

In practice, the church ran a television station called Times TV which would broadcast his sermons from his church in Malindi.

His End Days sermons included conspiracy theories that described education as "evil", healthcare as "against the doctrine" and digital identity cards as "the mark of the devil".

For context, the main church shut down in 2019 and Mackenzie moved to Shakahola forest, encouraging his devotees to follow him.

While more than 400 bodies were exhumed from the forest, while the conclusion of the murder cases may bring a sense of justice for the victims and their families, the convictions only account for 191 victims.

Mackenzie and other leaders of the cult additionally face a raft of other cases, including for terrorism, radicalisation and denying education to children. More regarding Kenya's doomsday cult from the BBC. 'My wife and six children joined Kenya starvation cult'. What did the Kenyan starvation cult leader preach? For context, the mother who fled a death cult to save her children.

Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.

For now, kenyan doomsday cult leader given life sentence for murdering 191 people remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.