A Kenyan court has sentenced doomsday cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for his role in the deaths of 191 people, including 190 children, in the Shakahola forest massacre.
Mackenzie and 28 co-accused were convicted of murder after prosecutors established that they instructed followers to starve themselves and their children to death in the belief that they would “meet Jesus”.
Justice Diana Mochache said Mackenzie bore the “primary criminal culpability” for directing members to undertake the deadly fast.
He was sentenced to 100 years for homicide and another 100 years for offences related to starvation. The sentences under each category will run concurrently, but the two categories will run consecutively, bringing his total prison term to 200 years.
The judge described the killings as “cold and calculated” but declined to impose the death penalty, although prosecutors had sought it. She said capital punishment would eliminate any possibility of rehabilitation.
The case followed the discovery of more than 400 bodies in shallow graves in Shakahola forest near Kenya’s coast in 2023. Post-mortem examinations showed that most victims died from starvation, while others suffered suffocation, strangulation or head injuries.
The court heard that Mackenzie’s followers regarded him as “Jesus’s mouthpiece” and that those who resisted his teachings were beaten. Burials in the forest were reportedly described as “weddings” with the dead celebrated as having joined Jesus.
The 28 co-accused, including guards who enforced the fasting orders and gravediggers who concealed bodies, received prison terms of up to 160 years.
Mackenzie also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism charges, which he denies. He and his co-accused had pleaded not guilty to the murder charges.
Although the convictions cover 191 victims, more than 400 bodies were recovered from the forest, meaning the cases account for only part of the deaths.
