Kenyan Court Hands Paul Mackenzie 200-Year Sentence for Starving 190 Children

Paul Mackenzie will spend the next 200 years in a Kenyan prison after a court on Friday ruled he ordered the starvation of 190 children. Justice Diana Kavedza delivered the verdict outside the courthouse, splitting the sentence into two distinct parts. She assigned 100 years for murder by starvation and an additional 100 years for direct homicide. The ruling concludes the primary trial in what authorities describe as one of the largest ceremonial massacres in modern history.

Prosecutors argued that Mackenzie instructed followers of his apocalyptic Christian church to fast until death. He told them this would allow them to reach heaven before the world ended. His accomplices enforced these orders through threats and physical beating. Victims were left emaciated. Bodies were discovered scattered in shallow graves and dumped in latrines within Shakahola Forest. Some victims had been buried while still alive.

Mackenzie, dressed in a grey polo shirt and black trousers, entered a tent set up outside the court with a smile. He had maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings. His defense claimed he did not force the victims to starve. The court rejected that argument.

The case broke publicly in April 2023 when police began uncovering bodies in the forest near the coastal town of Malindi. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has since confirmed 448 bodies were found in that area. The trial specifically covered 190 children and one adult. Mackenzie faces a separate case for 52 other victims found in a village 30 kilometers away. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges. The combined suspected death toll reaches 500 people.

Stephen Mwiti, 48, lost six children to the cult. His wife, a convicted accomplice, took the children to the forest. Mwiti questioned the logic of the orders given to adults. "What about the children?" he asked reporters. He stated that he will not get his children back regardless of the sentence. He hoped for a death penalty or life imprisonment to ensure Mackenzie never caused more deaths.

Dan Mackenzie, the son of the convicted leader, said his father did not spare his own family. Dan left the church because he stopped believing in the promise of heaven. He lost friends and a younger brother in the events. He called the verdict justice for those lost in Shakahola.

Mackenzie had been on the radar of authorities since 2017. Police searched his premises that year. In 2019, officials shut down his church in Malindi. He then moved his group to Shakahola Forest. President William Ruto appointed a task force in May 2023 to review the legal framework for religious groups. Two sets of proposals were published in 2024 but have not yet passed into law.

Ojiro Odhiambo, head of rapid response at the Kenya Human Rights Commission, said the conviction is a step forward. He argued that accountability must extend to local administrators, police, and intelligence officers. He claimed these groups failed to act on repeated warning signs. "All these people have failed the people," Odhiambo said. President Ruto stated in 2023 that he took responsibility for the government's failure to prevent the deaths.