Kenya Cult Leader Guilty of 191 Murders After Ordering Parents to Starve Their Children to Death to 'Meet Jesus'

A self-proclaimed Kenyan pastor who told his followers to starve their children so they could 'meet Jesus' has been found guilty of 191 murders. All but one of his victims were children.

Paul Mackenzie was convicted at the High Court in Mombasa on Monday, 19 October, alongside 28 other leaders of his Good News International Ministries. They are due to be sentenced on 6 November.

The defendants had pleaded not guilty and maintained throughout the trial that nobody was forced to die. Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023, after hundreds of bodies were discovered in shallow graves in Shakahola forest, near the Kenyan coast, where he had moved his followers. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights put the death toll at 429 in 2024.

How Parents Were Told to Starve Their Children

Justice Diana Kavedza Mochache, who took eight hours to deliver her judgment, said Mackenzie's followers regarded him as 'Jesus's mouthpiece'. The court found that he built a belief system that rejected education and modern medicine, urged followers to cut themselves off from society and led them to relocate to the forest.

According to the BBC, one co-accused said Mackenzie told followers that anyone who 'resisted the directive to fast must be forced to go to heaven through kicks and blows'. A witness described a pregnant woman who was barred from nursing her newborn, who died 12 days later. 'She was instructed to fast to death and follow her children', the witness said.

Prosecutors said Mackenzie set out a 'structured hierarchy of death' under which children were to die first, followed by teenagers, women and then men. Burials in the forest were called 'weddings', and those who died 'were celebrated as having wedded with Jesus', the judge said.

Judge Rejects Claim the Victims Chose to Fast

The defence had argued that followers fasted of their own free will. In her ruling, Justice Kavedza Mochache said: 'I am satisfied that the prosecution has proved the case against all the 29 accused persons for the murder of 190 children and one adult.'

Forensic evidence established starvation as the cause of death in 72 cases, while other victims died from asphyxia, manual neck compression or head injuries. The cause of death for 110 bodies could not be determined because of advanced decomposition, but the court ruled it could infer from the circumstances that they, too, died from starvation.

The judge also held that children could not legally consent to being starved. 'A parent has no legal entitlement to determine that a child should die in pursuit of a religious belief', she said, according to Kenya's Citizen Digital.

The court found that Mackenzie's church had the defining features of a cult, with members radicalised through isolation and domination, and that it broke close family bonds, leading mothers to starve their own children.

Mackenzie's lawyer, Lawrence Obonyo, called the verdict 'perplexing' and said his clients were 'surprised, and they are disappointed'. He plans to appeal, adding: 'We have so much confidence that the verdict will be overturned.'

Families Left Divided by the Verdict

Stephen Mwiti, 48, lost all six of his children to the cult, and his former wife was among those convicted. 'I'm a happy man, that all persons have been convicted', he told the BBC outside court.

Before the verdict, holding a family photograph, he said: 'All six of my children died in Shakahola forest... I only found and buried the remains of my son Samuel.' Many victims have still not been identified, and court documents list several only as 'unknown male child'.

Mackenzie's estranged son, Dan, 24, said ahead of the ruling that his father was 'a murderer of mass killing'. After the verdict, he expressed relief. 'Justice has happened to the victims', he said, according to AFP.

Others remain loyal. Peter Shukrani, 23, was rescued from the forest after his mother threw away the medicine he needed, yet he still defends the preacher. 'Mackenzie didn't force anyone to fast', he said before the verdict. 'I still love him and he is still my pastor.'

What Happens Next for Paul Mackenzie

Monday's ruling is the first time Mackenzie has faced a verdict on murder charges. He still faces separate cases involving terrorism, radicalisation and denying children an education. In January 2026, he was also charged over a further 52 bodies found at a nearby village. He has denied manslaughter and terrorism charges in separate cases.

Renson Ingonga, the director of public prosecutions, called the verdict 'momentous'. The case has prompted calls in Kenya for tougher regulation of religious organisations, after it emerged that Mackenzie had been arrested twice before and released.

For families like Mr Mwiti's, the conviction brings accountability, though many are still waiting to identify and bury their dead. Sentencing is due next month.