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A Kenyan court has convicted religious leader Paul Mackenzie and approximately 30 co accused over the deaths of 191 people linked to an alleged deadly fasting system in Shakahola Forest, in one of the country's most consequential criminal cases.
The ruling was delivered on Monday at the Mombasa High Court after a lengthy trial examining the deaths of followers of Mackenzie, who ran the Good News International Church. Prosecutors argued that religious teachings were used to manipulate followers and enforce dangerous fasting practices, with children among the first victims.
According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the court found that the deaths resulted from an organised system in which religious teachings and a clear hierarchy were used to direct and enforce deadly fasting.
The prosecution said fasting was introduced in stages, beginning with children, while guards allegedly controlled movement and prevented followers from escaping. The court also heard that Mackenzie discouraged modern medicine and formal education, reinforcing his followers' isolation from the outside world.
Authorities began exhuming bodies in Shakahola Forest in April 2023 after concerns emerged about missing people and suspected deaths within the religious group. So far, investigators have recovered 429 bodies, and additional charges may follow as investigations continue.
Mackenzie and his co accused were charged with murder in 2024 following the discovery of hundreds of bodies. Prosecutors alleged that followers had been instructed to starve themselves and their children in the belief that doing so would allow them to reach heaven and meet Jesus.
Evidence presented in court included communications extracted from Mackenzie's phone, including WhatsApp messages showing contact with followers before they relocated to the forest. The judge said followers had been persuaded to abandon their homes, families and livelihoods after being taught that the outside world was evil.
Postmortem findings cited during the ruling indicated that starvation was not the only cause of death. Some victims reportedly died from suffocation, neck compression or head injuries. The prosecution also described children being restrained, denied food and punished when they attempted to eat or escape.
The case has devastated families whose relatives disappeared into the forest. Rodgers Shibutse, a Nairobi resident, previously identified his mother's remains among those recovered. He said the conviction represented an important step towards justice, although it could not erase the pain suffered by affected families.
Mackenzie's lawyer, Lawrence Obonyo, said the defence intended to appeal. He maintained that Mackenzie had not forced anyone to fast and argued that the victims' actions were voluntary.
Mackenzie and his co accused are expected to be sentenced on November 6. Meanwhile, the recovery of additional remains and the possibility of further charges mean the search for accountability in the Shakahola tragedy is far from over.
