A Kenyan court has convicted controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie and 28 of his co-accused for the murder of 190 children and one adult in a starvation cult case that shocked the country and drew international attention.
The verdict was delivered on Monday, October 19, 2026, by the High Court in Mombasa, with Justice Diana Kavedza Mochache ruling that the prosecution had established the defendants’ involvement in the deaths linked to the Shakahola Forest tragedy.
Mackenzie, founder of the Good News International Church, was accused of leading a doomsday sect in which followers were encouraged and allegedly compelled to starve themselves and their children to death in the belief that they would go to heaven and meet Jesus before the end of the world.
In delivering the judgment, the court found that religious teachings and an established hierarchy were used to enforce a deadly fasting regime. Children were reportedly targeted first, while guards prevented followers from escaping or accessing food. The judge rejected the defence’s argument that the victims had voluntarily chosen to fast to death.
The case came to light in April 2023, when Kenyan authorities began exhuming bodies from shallow graves in Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County, near the coastal town of Malindi. Investigations eventually led to the recovery of more than 400 bodies, making the incident one of Kenya’s most disturbing mass-death cases.
Prosecutors alleged that Mackenzie’s teachings discouraged followers from accessing formal education and medical care, while the isolated community operated under strict control. Some survivors reportedly described being subjected to violence when they resisted the instructions or attempted to escape.
Mackenzie, who was arrested in 2023, denied the murder allegations, maintaining that he had not forced his followers to starve themselves. However, the court found him and the other defendants guilty after considering evidence presented during the trial, including testimony from survivors and other witnesses.
The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on November 6, 2026. Mackenzie and some of his associates also face separate proceedings involving allegations of manslaughter, terrorism and child torture connected to other deaths linked to the group.
The conviction has renewed calls in Kenya for stronger oversight of religious organisations and improved measures to protect vulnerable people from religious exploitation. The case has also raised questions about how Mackenzie continued his activities despite earlier encounters with law enforcement authorities.
