A Kenyan court has sentenced Paul Mackenzie, founder of the Good News International Church, to 200 years in prison for the murders of 191 followers, including 190 children, in the Shakahola case.
Justice Diana Kavedza of the High Court in Mombasa imposed two consecutive 100-year terms: one covering 183 deaths attributed to starvation and another covering eight victims who died through direct homicide. The judgment followed Mackenzie’s conviction on Oct. 19 alongside 28 other defendants. The Kenyan Judiciary’s official media summary records the judgment and the court’s handling of the case.
According to Reuters’ account of the sentencing, prosecutors said Mackenzie directed followers to fast until death in the belief that they would meet Jesus. The court found that he used religious teachings to organize the deaths, while other defendants included alleged guards and gravediggers.
The case centers on the discovery of hundreds of graves at Chakama Ranch in coastal Kilifi County, where Mackenzie’s followers lived in a remote settlement. More than 400 bodies were exhumed in 2023. The deaths prompted national scrutiny of religious groups, government oversight and the authorities’ response to warnings about the church.
The Associated Press reported that the court described Mackenzie as bearing primary criminal responsibility for moving followers to the isolated property and directing them to fast. The judgment also rejected arguments that some defendants’ loss of their own children excused their participation in the deaths of other children.
Mackenzie’s lawyer, Lawrence Obonyo, said an appeal had already been filed, arguing that the sentence effectively amounts to life imprisonment. The convicted defendants were given 14 days to appeal. Mackenzie also faces separate terrorism and manslaughter proceedings connected to additional deaths, as well as child-abuse and torture charges.