19.10.2026 08:20
A court in Kenya is expected to deliver its verdict in the murder trial of Pastor Paul Mackenzie and 29 of his followers, who preached fasting to "meet Jesus," over the deaths of 191 children.
According to BBC News, the court is expected to announce its verdict in the mass murder trial of Pastor Paul Mackenzie, known in Kenya for his apocalyptic sermons. Mackenzie and 29 followers are on trial for murder over the deaths of 191 children.
According to the allegation, Mackenzie's cult forced children to starve to death so they could 'meet Jesus'. In Mackenzie's teaching, education was banned and modern medicine was considered 'demonic'. All defendants deny the charges and argue that no one was forced to die.
The cult's former security chief Enos Amanya Ngala was also initially among the defendants, but he made a deal with the prosecution and became a witness. Mackenzie and other leaders of the cult are also on trial in other cases on charges including terrorism, radicalization, and keeping children out of education. But the pastor is appearing in a verdict hearing for the first time on murder, the most serious charge.
According to authorities, more than 400 bodies were found in the Shakahola Forest near the Kenyan coast, where Mackenzie gathered his followers from all over the country. Seventeen people were hired from a nearby town to open the graves; some were paid only 8 dollars a day.
Mackenzie founded the church Good News International Ministries in 2003. The church reached thousands of followers across Kenya through sermons broadcast on the television channel Times TV. In the sermons, education was presented as 'evil', healthcare as 'contrary to the faith', and digital identity cards as 'the mark of the devil'. The main church closed in 2019, and Mackenzie called on his followers to follow him to Shakahola Forest.
Stephen Mwiti, 48, who lost six children in the cult, recounted that he was only able to find and bury the remains of his son Samuel. Mwiti's former wife is also among those on trial with Mackenzie. Peter Shukrani, 23, who was rescued from the forest in March 2023, said his mother threw away her medication and that he would have died if he had not been rescued, but he still considered Mackenzie 'a good person'.
The pastor's son Dan Paul Mackenzie, however, believes his father should be found guilty of murder: 'He was the leader, the person everyone looked up to.'
Source: BBC