Kenyan Pastor Convicted Over Deaths Of 191 Followers, Including 190 Children

A Kenyan pastor, Paul Mackenzie, has been convicted of murdering 191 people, including 190 children, after allegedly directing followers of his religious group to starve themselves and their children to death in a bid to meet Jesus.

The BBC reported on Monday that 28 other leaders of the group were also convicted of murder. All the defendants had pleaded not guilty, insisting that nobody was forced to die.

Delivering an eight-hour judgment in Mombasa, Justice Diana Mochache said Mackenzie’s followers believed he was the mouthpiece of Jesus, a conviction that reportedly strengthened his influence over them.

One of the co-accused told the court that Mackenzie had instructed his followers to force anyone who refused to fast to comply through violence.

The co-accused said those who resisted the directive were to be forced to “go to heaven through kicks and blows”.

The judge also heard that burials in the forest where the group operated were referred to as “weddings”, with deceased members celebrated as having married Jesus.

According to the BBC, 17 men were recruited from a nearby town to exhume shallow graves in the forest, with some reportedly paid as little as $8 per day for the work.

One of the gravediggers, identified as James, described the disturbing discoveries made during the operation, saying each grave contained at least three bodies, including those of infants only a few weeks old.

He told the BBC that 12 children were once found buried in a single grave, with their bodies arranged on top of one another.

The gravediggers also reported finding children whose hands and legs had been tied, with their bodies wrapped in bedsheets.

Another gravedigger, Salim Karisa, said some of the victims were known to residents of neighbouring Shakahola town because members of the group regularly visited the area to purchase supplies and fetch water from the River Galana.

Karisa said some residents occasionally transported people into the forest on their motorcycles but did not understand what was happening inside because the activities were conducted secretly.

Mackenzie founded Good News International Ministries in 2003, and the church attracted thousands of followers over the following 16 years through its branches across Kenya.

The church operated a television station, Times TV, which broadcast Mackenzie’s sermons from Malindi. His teachings reportedly described formal education as evil, healthcare as contrary to religious doctrine and digital identity cards as the mark of the devil.

Mackenzie’s son, Dan Paul Mackenzie, said he worked as a cameraperson for the church and recalled that children sat at the back during services while adults occupied the middle seats and sang worship songs throughout the morning.

He said his father usually began preaching at noon, with some sessions involving what was described as the casting out of demons.

The church’s main branch closed in 2019, after which Mackenzie moved to Shakahola Forest and encouraged his followers to join him there.

One of the followers, Peter Shukrani, 23, moved to the forest with his mother. He said he had started attending Mackenzie’s church at the age of eight and regarded the pastor as his spiritual father.

Shukrani, however, fell ill while living in the forest, where medication was prohibited under the group’s teachings. His condition reportedly worsened after his mother discarded the medicines he needed, believing that only God could heal him.

He described life in the forest as relatively quiet, with residents living in mud houses scattered across the vast area and observing periods of fasting before taking small meals.

The first remains were discovered by local herders in March 2023, by which time hundreds of people were believed to have died.

Karisa said some followers were so weak from starvation that they died while being carried out of the forest.

Shukrani, who was among those rescued, said he had been bedridden for weeks before his rescue and believed he would have died without intervention.

He said his mother’s belief in Mackenzie’s teaching against medicine had put his life at risk.

Many of the bodies recovered from the forest remain unidentified because of decomposition. Court records reportedly identify several victims as “unknown male child”, using the locations of their graves and the dates of discovery to distinguish them.

Despite the deaths and reports of starvation, strangulation and bludgeoning among members of the group, Shukrani continued to defend Mackenzie before the verdict was delivered.

He maintained that the pastor did not force anyone to fast, saying members made their own decisions based on their religious beliefs.

Dan Mackenzie, however, said before the verdict that his father should be convicted because of his authority and influence over the followers.

“He was the leader, he was someone who they were looking uptoup to. So he is a murderer of mass killing,” he said, according to the BBC.