Kenya Sentences Cult Leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 Years for 191 Murders
A Mombasa court ruled Mackenzie, who led followers to starve for a spiritual reunion, bears primary culpability for the deaths of 190 children and one adult.
By Luis Medina ·
Kenyan authorities have completed the sentencing phase in one of the country's most high-profile cult trials, imposing a 200-year prison term on the group's spiritual leader.
On Friday, the High Court in Mombasa sentenced Pastor Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for the murders of 191 people. The court found Mackenzie, the head of the Good News International Church, guilty of ordering his followers to starve to death to meet Jesus. Justice Diana Kavedza stated that Mackenzie bore the "primary criminal culpability" for moving the group to a remote location and enforcing the fasting. She described the killings as "cold and calculated." The prosecution had sought the death penalty for Mackenzie, though Kenyan law treats that sentence as life imprisonment.
The tragedy unfolded at the Chakama Ranch in Kilifi County, an 800-acre property where followers lived in mud huts. In 2023, investigators exhumed more than 400 bodies from shallow graves on the site. While over 60 victims have been identified and reburied by relatives, many remain unclaimed. Kavedza noted that 183 victims died of starvation, defined as a total lack of food, while eight died from direct homicide. Mackenzie was charged alongside 28 other followers, including guards and gravediggers. All were found guilty on Oct. 19, though only one defendant confessed and pleaded for leniency. Assistant pastor Smart Mwakalama received a 160-year sentence.
Reactions to the verdict have been mixed among the legal teams and families. Defense lawyer Lawrence Obonyo told the Associated Press that he has already launched an appeal. He argued that the sentence is "unattainable" and effectively a life sentence, noting that it circles around the constitution. Suleiman Ziro, a father who traveled 120 kilometers to attend the sentencing, lost his wife and six children to the cult. He argued that the sentence was insufficient because he has yet to recover the bodies of his loved ones and called for the death penalty. Dan Mackenzie, the leader's son, said he felt sorry for his father but believed "justice served to the victims." He noted that he survived by rebelling against his father's teachings and that his younger siblings are now at a children's home.
The convicted defendants have 14 days to file a formal appeal. Mackenzie and his co-defendants will serve their sentences in Kenyan prisons, where those sentenced to death serve life terms. The country's last execution took place in 1987.
