Kenya cult leader Paul Mackenzie sentenced to 200 years over Shakahola starvation deaths
The High Court in Mombasa handed down two terms of 100 years each for murder by starvation and direct homicide.
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Paul Mackenzie sentenced to 200 years in prison: a Kenyan court on Friday, 6 November 2026, jailed the self-styled pastor who led a doomsday sect that starved 191 people to death in Shakahola Forest, Al Jazeera reported. The victims were 190 children and one adult.
Why Paul Mackenzie was sentenced to 200 years
Justice Diana Kavedza read the judgment at the High Court in Mombasa. The 200 years is made up of 100 years for murder by starvation and 100 years for direct homicide, according to Al Jazeera. Twenty-eight accomplices who were convicted alongside Mackenzie in October also received prison terms, ranging from 10 to 160 years, Daily Sabah reported.
Mackenzie led the Good News International Church. He denied the murder charges and said he never forced anyone to starve. The court rejected that defence. Al Jazeera said he smiled as he entered a tent set up outside the court.
Key numbers
- 200 years: the total sentence, split into two terms of 100 years.
- 191: the number of victims named in the case, 190 children and one adult.
- 28: accomplices convicted with him in October who also received prison terms.
- More than 400: the number Kenyan authorities say died in the wider Shakahola tragedy.
Background: The Shakahola Forest killings
Followers of the sect were ordered to starve themselves and their children so they could reach heaven before the world ended. Accomplices threatened and beat people to enforce the orders, Al Jazeera reported. Police arrested Mackenzie in 2023 after a tip-off, and weeks later authorities began uncovering bodies in Shakahola Forest in southeastern Kenya.
The bodies were emaciated and buried in shallow graves and latrines. Some people had been buried alive. Al Jazeera noted that Mackenzie had been arrested twice before and released, which has fed scrutiny of why the group was not stopped earlier.
What people said
The court did not accept Mackenzie’s claim that he played no part in the starvation. Since the discovery of the graves, there have been calls in Kenya for tougher government regulation of religious organisations, Al Jazeera said. The outlet compared the scale of the deaths with a 2000 cult killing in Uganda that left more than 700 dead and the 1978 Jonestown massacre in Guyana that left more than 900 dead.
What happens next
The focus now shifts to whether Kenya tightens oversight of churches and how the remaining cases from the Shakahola investigation proceed. Any appeal by Mackenzie or his co-accused has not been reported. For more global coverage, see our World page, the World Affairs section and our report on Israel’s government talks.
The sentence closes the main criminal case over a cult that starved 190 children and one adult. Kenyan authorities say more than 400 people died in the wider tragedy, so calls for tougher oversight of religious groups are likely to continue.