Kenyan Court Delivers Judgment in Paul Mackenzie Mass Murder Case
Doomsday preacher and 29 followers charged with the murder of 191 children; over 400 bodies found in Shakahola forest.
Callum Smith
A Kenyan court is set to deliver a judgment in a mass murder case involving doomsday preacher Paul Mackenzie.
Police arrested Mackenzie in 2023 following a tip-off. He established Good News International Ministries in 2003, operating a television station, Times TV.
The main church closed in 2019, prompting Mackenzie's move to Shakahola forest. By March 2023, hundreds had died in the forest.
Police arrested Mackenzie again in April 2023, initiating a systematic forest search and exhuming mass graves. The prosecution claims Mackenzie's cult forced children to starve to death so they could "meet Jesus."
His doomsday doctrine forbade education and considered modern medicine "evil." The court heard children were deliberately isolated and denied food while their parents watched, part of Mackenzie's phased starvation plan.
It has been really a heavy thing [for] us as a family, and it has really taken us very far in terms of psychological problems … I was hoping for this particular day.
Paul Mackenzie and his co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to murder, repeatedly insisting nobody was forced to die. Peter Shukrani claims Mackenzie did not force anyone to fast, stating individuals made those choices themselves due to their beliefs.
Francis Wanje expressed the profound impact of the case, saying, "It has been really a heavy thing [for] us as a family, and it has really taken us very far in terms of psychological problems … I was hoping for this particular day."
Kenyan President William Ruto stated in 2023 that government agencies should have prevented the deaths and took responsibility as president.
Justice Diana Kavedza Mochache presided over the hearing.