A Kenyan court on Monday found starvation cult leader Paul Mackenzie and about 30 others guilty of murder over the deaths of 190 children and one adult in one of the world's worst cult-related disasters in recent history, as reported by Reuters.
Mackenzie and his co-accused are scheduled to be sentenced on November 6.
The case relates to the deaths of followers of Mackenzie's Good News International Church, which prosecutors said operated as a Christian doomsday sect.
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The prosecution claims that Mackenzie and the church's adherents were told to starve themselves and their kids to death in order to enter heaven before the end of the world.
Mackenzie argued that he had not made the victims hunger, thus he denied the murder accusations. But the court dismissed his defence.
In southeast Kenya's Shakahola Forest, which is close to the coast, more than 400 dead have been found. According to the investigation, just 26 remains could be recognised, and several were badly decomposed.
Investigations into the remaining deaths are still ongoing, but Monday's ruling addressed 191 deaths.
What Happened In Kenya's Shakahola Forest?
The Shakahola tragedy has gripped Kenya since authorities began uncovering mass graves in the coastal forest in 2023.
Mackenzie was arrested that year after police received a tip-off. Weeks later, authorities began discovering bodies in shallow graves across the forest.
According to people with direct knowledge of the cult's activities who spoke to Reuters, Mackenzie planned the mass starvation in three phases: first children, then women and young men, and finally the remaining men.
A former taxi driver, Mackenzie allegedly prohibited cult members from sending their children to school or taking sick people to hospitals, describing such institutions as Satanic, some followers told Reuters.
Members of the cult lived in makeshift homes made from polythene sheeting and thatch. Mackenzie reportedly divided the settlement into areas with biblical names, including Jerusalem and Judea.
The scale of the deaths began emerging in mid-March 2023, when a local man told police that his brother and sister-in-law had starved their children to death in the forest on Mackenzie's orders.
Mackenzie was initially arrested but released on bail. Relatives later said he brought forward the date on which he had told his followers the world would end. Police arrested him again in April 2023 and began systematically searching the forest and exhuming mass graves.
Families Gather To Hear Verdict
The judgment was delivered after a hearing lasting more than eight hours. Justice Diana Kavedza Mochache said that in some cases, children had been isolated and denied food while their parents watched.
Mackenzie appeared in court wearing a striped polo shirt and red trousers, sitting alongside his wife, who is also one of the co-accused. When the judge read out his name, he stood silently and stared into space.
Family members of those who died in the forest gathered at the Mombasa High Court to hear the verdict.
Francis Wanje, 62, lost eight family members, including two grandchildren, to the cult.
Questions Over Kenya's Oversight Of Religious Groups
The tragedy has raised questions about how Mackenzie was able to continue operating despite being on the authorities' radar since 2017, when police searched his premises.
Authorities shut down his church in 2019, after which he relocated to the Shakahola Forest, police said.
The case has also fuelled calls for tougher oversight of churches and other religious organisations in Kenya, where religion plays a prominent role in public life.
Kenyan President William Ruto said in 2023 that government agencies should have been able to prevent the deaths. He also said he took responsibility as president.
Paul Mackenzie Faces Additional Charges
Mackenzie faces other charges linked to the deaths in the forest, including terrorism-related offences, which he has denied.
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Prosecutors have also alleged that, while in detention, he directed the deaths of 52 people in Kwa Binzaro village, about 30 km from Shakahola. Mackenzie has pleaded not guilty in that case.
The sentencing scheduled for November 6 is the next major development in the case involving the 191 deaths covered by Monday's judgment, while investigations into other deaths and separate proceedings continue.
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