Kenyan Cult Leader Paul Mackenzie Charged with 191 Murders

by PH February 6, 2024, 7:32 pm

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie (C), who set up the Good News International Church in 2003 and is accused of inciting cult followers to starve to death “to meet Jesus”, appears in the dock with other co-accused at the court in Malindi on May 2, 2023. – A Kenyan pastor appearing in court on May 2, 2023 will face terrorism charges, prosecutors said in connection with the deaths of over 100 people found buried in what has been dubbed the “Shakahola forest massacre”. The deeply religious Christian-majority country has been stunned by the discovery of mass graves last month in a forest near the Indian Ocean coastal town of Malindi. (Photo by SIMON MAINA / AFP)

Paul Mackenzie, a Kenyan cult leader, and 29 associates have been charged with the murders of 191 children, whose bodies were discovered buried in a jungle.

The accused disputed the charges in a Malindi court. One defendant was found mentally incompetent for trial.

Prosecutors said Mackenzie encouraged followers to starve themselves and their children in order to reach paradise before the world ended, resulting in one of the biggest cult-related catastrophes in modern history.

Members of Mackenzie’s Good News International Church lived in remote villages spanning 800 acres of Shakahola forest, where more than 400 dead were discovered.

Mackenzie was detained in April last year and has already been charged with terrorism-related crimes, manslaughter, and torture. In December, he was convicted of producing and distributing films without a license and sentenced to a year in prison.

Mackenzie, a former cab driver, barred cult members from bringing their children to school or taking them to the hospital when they were sick, labeling such institutions as Satanic, according to several of his followers.

Mackenzie’s lawyer has stated that he is helping with the inquiry into the killings. The judge stated that the 30 defendants would return to court on March 7 for their bond hearing.