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A Kenyan court has sentenced self-proclaimed preacher Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for the murder of 190 children and one adult in a starvation cult that shocked the country.
The sentence was delivered on Friday, following Mackenzie’s conviction last month for offences committed between January 2021 and September 2023 at the sect’s base in Shakahola Forest, near the coastal town of Malindi.
The court handed him 100 years for the homicide charges and another 100 years for the starvation-related offences. His 28 co-accused were also handed lengthy prison sentences.
Mackenzie was accused of persuading followers to starve themselves to death in a bid to meet Jesus. The case became known as the Shakahola Forest Massacre after hundreds of bodies were discovered at the sect’s 325-hectare ranch from 2023.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, citing the scale of the deaths and the danger posed by Mackenzie’s activities. Although Kenya’s laws provide for capital punishment, the country has not carried out an execution since 1987.
Mackenzie’s lawyer said he would appeal the conviction. The former taxi driver also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism charges, which he denies.
During the trial, about 120 prosecution witnesses testified. Their accounts revealed that the sect discouraged formal education, describing it as satanic, rejected modern medicine and hospitals, and instructed members to cut themselves off from the outside world.
Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after a rights group alerted authorities, leading to the rescue of some followers from the forest compound.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights put the death toll at 429 in 2024, with some victims still unidentified.
The verdict has renewed calls for tighter regulation of religious organisations in Kenya, particularly after it emerged that Mackenzie had previously been arrested twice but was released.
One of the victims’ relatives, 62-year-old teacher Francis Wanje, who lost two grandchildren, told AFP that he had hoped the preacher would receive the death penalty.
“Nothing can ease the pain,” Wanje said, while blaming authorities for failing to intervene earlier.
He added that the tragedy could have been prevented if the authorities had acted sooner.
