Kenyan Court Sentences Cult Leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 Years in Prison Over Shakahola Massacre
A Kenyan court has sentenced controversial cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for the murder of 191 people, most of them children, in the Shakahola forest massacre.
The Mombasa High Court found Mackenzie and more than two dozen of his followers guilty of operating an organised system that encouraged parents to starve their children to death in the belief that they would meet Jesus.
Mackenzie, who described himself as a pastor, was arrested in 2023 following the discovery of hundreds of bodies buried in shallow graves in Shakahola Forest, near Kenya’s coastal region.
The discovery of more than 400 bodies shocked Kenya and attracted international attention, making the case one of the country’s deadliest cult-related tragedies.
Kenyan Court Sentences Cult Leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 Years in Prison Over Shakahola Massacre