Kenyan cult leader guilty on all charges over 191 starvation deaths

Three years after the grim discovery that shocked Kenya and the world, a Mombasa judge handed down an initial verdict in the Shakahola Forest Massacre case. Cult leader Paul Ntenge McKenzie and around 30 other people were found guilty of murdering 190 children by ordering their followers to starve themselves to death. Relatives of the victims had gathered outside the Mombasa courthouse in anticipation of the ruling. I lost eight members of my family. I personally, I was hoping for this particular day and I said that I have to be here no matter the case because I wanted to hear what the judge was going to say about it. A self-proclaimed pastor and founder of the Good News International Church, Mackenzie was arrested in 2023 following reports of suspicious activities. As police began searching the Shakahola forest where his church was based, they unearthed hundreds of bodies buried in mass graves. The victims had been ordered by Mackenzie to starve themselves and their children to death in order to get closer to God before the end of the world. Following the tragic discovery, the cult leader maintained his innocence, saying he didn't force his followers to starve, but the argument failed to convince the judge. I reject the defense by the accused persons that the victims who were all below the age of 16, 16 years, voluntarily fasted to death. I accordingly find all the 29 accused persons guilty as charged. Monday's ruling, which can still be appealed, covered an initial 191 deaths. Mackenzie is set to face more charges, including terrorism-related ones, as investigations continue into the more than 400 bodies uncovered in the Shakahola forest.