19.10.2026 19:41
Paul Mackenzie, leader of the doomsday cult in Kenya who ordered his followers to starve their children to death, was found guilty of murdering 191 people, all but one of them children. The cult's other 29 leaders were also convicted of murder. More than 400 bodies were found in shallow graves in the Shakahola forest in 2023. Mackenzie's sentence will be announced on November 6.
The leader of a doomsday cult in Kenya, Paul Mackenzie, has been found guilty of killing 191 people, all but one of them children.
Mackenzie ordered members of his cult to starve their children to death so that the children could "meet Jesus." According to his teaching, education was forbidden and modern medicine was "evil."
The cult's other 29 leaders were also convicted of murder. They had all claimed innocence and argued that no one was killed by force.
Warning: This article contains details that some people may find disturbing.
FUNERALS WERE CALLED WEDDINGS
During the eight-hour verdict hearing, Judge Diana Mochache said that Mackenzie's followers saw their leader as "the spokesman of Jesus."
One of the witnesses stated that Mackenzie told his followers that "anyone who resisted the order to fast should be forced to go to heaven with kicks and punches."
The burials inside the forest where the cult was based were called "weddings." The judge said that the dead were "celebrated as if they had married Jesus."
A witness stated that a pregnant woman was prevented from breastfeeding her newborn baby, and the baby died 12 days later. The witness said, "She was told to go on a hunger strike until she died and to follow in her children's footsteps."
Mackenzie's former head of security, Enos Amanya Ngala, was initially charged but later made a deal and testified for the prosecution.
Mackenzie and the cult's other leaders also face a series of other cases, including terrorism, radicalization, and depriving children of education. However, this is the first time the pastor has been tried on serious charges such as murder. His sentence will be announced on November 6.
MORE THAN 400 BODIES WERE FOUND IN SHALLOW GRAVES
In 2023, authorities announced that more than 400 bodies had been found in shallow graves in the Shakahola forest near Kenya's coast, where Mackenzie led followers he had brought from all over the country.
Seventeen men from a nearby town were hired for the horrifying task of digging the shallow graves. Some were paid only $8 a day.
One of the grave diggers, James, told the BBC: "Every grave we found had at least three bodies. Some of the remains belonged to babies just a few weeks old."
"Once, inside a grave, we found 12 children's bodies laid side by side. It was very large; the bodies were stacked on top of one another like clothes." The gravediggers said that some of the children's bodies were found with "their hands and feet tied and their bodies wrapped in sheets."
Although most of Mackenzie's followers were from elsewhere in Kenya, some of the remains belonged to people known by the community, because cult members often went to the nearby town of Shakahola to buy supplies and fetch water from the Galana River that passes through the town. One of the grave diggers, Salim Karisa, said, "Sometimes we transported people into the forest on our motorcycles." "But everything was so planned and secretive that no one could understand what was happening inside. "
HE LOST SIX CHILDREN BECAUSE OF THE CULT
Stephen Mwiti, 48, said he lost all six of his children because of the cult. His ex-wife was among those convicted of murder along with Mackenzie. "If I came across Pastor Mackenzie today, one of us would have to die," he said.
Holding a photo of his family, his eyes welling with tears, Mwiti said, "All six of my children died in the Shakahola forest." "I only found and buried the body of my son Samuel. "
Pointing to a dusty television and cable box in his home in the coastal town of Malindi, 70 km from Shakahola, Mwiti said, "That little thing was the beginning of all my misery." Mackenzie's teaching had reached his home through that television.
Mackenzie founded Good News International Ministries in 2003. Over the next 16 years, the church gained popularity and gathered thousands of followers in branches across Kenya.
His church also ran a television channel called Times TV, which broadcast sermons he gave from his church in Malindi. His doomsday sermons included conspiracy theories that described education as "evil," healthcare as "contrary to doctrine," and digital identity cards as "the mark of the devil."
Mackenzie's son Dan Paul Mackenzie said he worked as a cameraman in his father's church. "Children sat at the back, adults in the middle, and everyone sang hymns all morning. " The pastor would begin his fiery sermons around noon. Some of these sermons also included "casting out demons."
The main church closed in 2019, and Paul Mackenzie encouraged his church congregation to follow him and moved to the Shakahola forest.
HIS MEDICATION WAS THROWN AWAY, HE CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD
Peter Shukrani, 23, says his mother moved with him to Shakahola at that time. Shukrani, who began attending Mackenzie's church at the age of eight, describes him as his "spiritual father" and adds that he "will never say anything bad about him."
Shukrani became ill in the forest, and his condition worsened because medicine was forbidden. "My mother would throw away all the medicine I needed because she believed only God could heal me," he said.
The community consisted of mud-brick houses scattered across the vast forest. Shukrani said, "We were living a quiet, normal life, fasting for a few days and then eating a light meal."
By the time the first remains were found by local shepherds in March 2023, hundreds of people had died. One of the grave diggers, Salim Karisa, explained, "We would carry someone out of the forest, but they were so weak that they died in our arms."
Shukrani was one of those rescued from the forest in March 2023. By then he had been ill and bedridden for weeks, but his condition worsened further because his mother threw away all the medicine he needed to recover.
Shukrani said, "My mother believed in Pastor Mackenzie's teaching that medicine was evil." "If I had not been rescued from the Shakahola forest, I would have died. "
Many of the bodies still could not be identified due to advanced decomposition. In court documents, many are referred to as "unidentified boy" and are identified by the location of their graves and the date they were found.
Despite the suffering endured by Mackenzie's followers, the men, women, and children who died from starvation, drowning, and even being beaten with sticks, and his own suffering, Shukrani describes Mackenzie as "a good person who cared about me." Before the verdict was announced, Shukrani said, "Mackenzie did not force anyone to fast. People made these choices themselves because of their own beliefs." "I still love him, and he is still my pastor. "
By contrast, Dan Mackenzie believed his father should be found guilty of murder. "He was a leader, someone people respected. Therefore, he is a killer who committed mass murder," he said.
We used artificial intelligence to translate this article, the original of which is in English. Before publication, a BBC journalist checked the translation.
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