Kenyan cult leader sentenced to 200 years for murdering 191 people

By Skika Reporter.

A Kenyan self-proclaimed preacher, Paul Mackenzie, has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for orchestrating the deaths of 190 children and one adult in a starvation cult linked to the infamous Shakahola Forest massacre.

Mackenzie was sentenced on Friday, November 6, 2026, by a court in Mombasa after being convicted last month alongside 28 co-accused of offences related to the deaths, which occurred between January 2021 and September 2023.

The court handed him 100 years for homicide offences and another 100 years for starvation-related charges. His lawyer has indicated plans to appeal the conviction.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, but the judge ruled that capital punishment would not effectively deter the convicts, given their belief that death was a pathway to heaven.

Mackenzie allegedly instructed his followers to starve themselves and their children to death to meet Jesus. Witnesses told court that the sect discouraged formal education, rejected modern medicine and isolated members from the outside world.

The case emerged in April 2023 after authorities were alerted by a human rights organisation, leading to the rescue of some followers and the discovery of mass graves in Shakahola Forest, near the coastal town of Malindi.

Kenya’s National Commission on Human Rights estimated the death toll at 429 in 2024, with some victims still unidentified.

Mackenzie also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism charges, which he denies. The tragedy has renewed calls for tighter regulation of religious organisations in Kenya.