Kenyan cult leader gets 200 years

A father in Kilifi County waited 120 kilometers of travel and a long court hearing to hear the verdict on the deaths of his six children. Suleiman Ziro, who also lost his wife to the cult in 2023, left the Mombasa High Court on Friday saying the 200-year prison term for Pastor Paul Mackenzie was not enough. Ziro has not yet recovered the bodies of his loved ones and continues to demand the death penalty.

Justice Diana Kavedza handed down the sentence for the leader of the Good News International Church. The court found Mackenzie guilty of murdering 191 people, including 190 children. The ruling determined that 183 victims died of starvation, defined as a complete lack of food, while the other eight died from direct homicide. Kavedza described the killings as cold and calculated.

Mackenzie ordered his followers to fast to death so they could meet Jesus. He moved his congregation to Chakama Ranch, an 800-acre property in coastal Kilifi County. The followers lived in mud huts on the land, which was far from local communities and authorities. In 2023, workers exhumed more than 400 bodies from shallow graves on the ranch. Over 60 of those victims have been identified and reburied by relatives.

The prosecution had asked for the death penalty for Mackenzie and life imprisonment for the others. The court instead sentenced Mackenzie to 200 years. His assistant pastor, Smart Mwakalama, received 160 years. Twenty-eight other followers, including guards who enforced the fasting rules and gravediggers who hid the mass graves, were also convicted. All defendants except one denied the charges, though one pleaded for leniency.

Mackenzie often smiled and chatted with Mwakalama during the sentencing. Kavedza said the group showed no remorse. She noted that some accused said they were ready to fast to death as well. The justice rejected arguments from some defendants who claimed the loss of their own children changed the nature of their participation.

Dan Mackenzie, the pastor’s son, said he felt sorry for his father but called the outcome justice for the victims. Dan escaped the cult by rebelling against his father’s teachings, which resulted in frequent punishment. He said he was glad he survived. Two of his younger brothers and three sisters were rescued and now live at a children’s home.

Defense lawyer Lawrence Obonyo has already filed an appeal. He told the Associated Press that the sentence circles around the constitution to create an unattainable term. Obonyo argued that 160 to 200 years is effectively life in prison. All convicted individuals have 14 days to file their own appeals. Kenya’s last execution took place in 1987, and those sentenced to death in Kenyan courts currently serve life sentences.