Kenyan court convicts starvation cult leader of murdering 191 people

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie looks on during his court appearance at the Mombasa Law Court on October 19, 2026. (AFP)

⁠A court in Kenya has found starvation cult leader Paul ⁠⁠Mackenzie and dozens of his associates guilty of murder over the deaths of 191 people – all but one of them children.

The self-proclaimed pastor and ⁠⁠his Good News International Church organised a Christian doomsday sect in which they ordered followers to starve themselves and their children to death, so they could go to heaven before the world ended and “meet Jesus”.

Police arrested Mackenzie in 2023 after receiving a tip-off. After several weeks, authorities began uncovering bodies in shallow graves in the Shakahola Forest near the coast in southeastern Kenya.

Mackenzie, who was convicted along with 28 associates, insisted that he did not force the victims to starve, but that was dismissed by the court in Mombasa, where the verdict was announced on Monday.

The defendants had pleaded not guilty and denied charges in other cases, including terrorism, radicalisation, and stopping children from attaining an education.

The court said Mackenzie and others convicted in the case will be sentenced on November 6.

Justice Diana Mochache delivers the judgement during the court appearance of self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie and his co-accused at the Mombasa Law Courts on October 19, 2026 [AFP]

More than 400 people died in the Shakahola tragedy, according to Kenyan authorities, making it one of the country’s deadliest cult-related disasters.

Investigations uncovered mass graves and evidence of severe malnutrition, triggering nationwide scrutiny of religious extremism and the government’s failure to detect the group’s activities earlier.

Since the bodies were discovered three years ago, there have been calls for the government to impose tougher regulations on religious organisations. It also emerged that Mackenzie was arrested twice in the past but then released.

Prosecutors said Mackenzie had “initiated and directed” extreme fasting at his 800-acre (325-hectare) ranch in Shakahola Forest.

They described a “structured hierarchy of death” under which children should die first, followed by teenagers, women, and then men.

Family members of the victims who died in the forest came to hear the verdict at the Mombasa court.

Francis Wanje lost eight family members, including two grandchildren, to the cult.

“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,” the 62-year-old said.

自称牧师的保罗·麦肯齐于2026年10月19日在蒙巴萨法院出庭时旁听。（法新社）

肯尼亚一家法院裁定，饥饿邪教头目保罗·麦肯齐及其数十名同伙犯有谋杀罪，导致 191 人死亡——除一人外，其余均为儿童。

这位自称牧师的人和他的“好消息国际教会”组织了一个基督教末日教派，他们命令信徒们让自己和孩子饿死，这样他们就可以在世界末日之前上天堂“遇见耶稣”。

警方在接到线报后于2023年逮捕了麦肯齐。几周后，当局开始在肯尼亚东南部沿海的沙卡霍拉森林中挖掘浅坟，并发现尸体。

麦肯齐与 28 名同伙一起被定罪，他坚称自己没有强迫受害者挨饿，但蒙巴萨法院驳回了这一说法，并于周一宣布了判决。

被告人拒不不认罪，并否认了其他案件中的指控，包括恐怖主义、激进化和阻止儿童接受教育。

法庭表示，麦肯齐和其他在本案中被定罪的人将于11月6日被判刑。

2026年10月19日，在蒙巴萨法院，法官戴安娜·莫查切在自称牧师的保罗·麦肯齐及其同案被告出庭时宣判。[法新社]

据肯尼亚当局称，沙卡霍拉惨案造成 400 多人死亡，成为该国最致命的邪教相关灾难之一。

调查发现了万人坑和严重营养不良的证据，引发了全国对宗教极端主义和政府未能及早发现该组织活动的审查。

自三年前发现尸体以来，一直有人呼吁政府对宗教组织实施更严格的监管。此外，还有消息称麦肯齐此前曾两次被捕，但随后获释。

检察官称，麦肯齐在其位于沙卡霍拉森林的 800 英亩（325 公顷）牧场上“发起并指导”了极端的禁食。

他们描述了一种“结构化的死亡等级”，根据这种等级制度，儿童应该首先死亡，然后是青少年，妇女，最后是男子。

在森林中丧生的受害者家属来到蒙巴萨法院听取判决。

弗朗西斯·万杰有八名家庭成员，包括两名孙子，都因邪教而丧生。

这位 62 岁的老人说：“这对我们全家来说真的是一件很沉重的事情，它真的给我们带来了很多心理问题。”