Kenyan court sentences starvation cult leader to 200 years

A Kenyan court has sentenced starvation cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for the murder of 190 children and one adult. The sentence was comprised of 100 years for murder by starvation and 100 years by direct homicide, Justice Diana Kavedza said on Friday, as she read out the judgement. The 191 victims were starved to death on his orders and buried in a forest.

Twenty-eight accomplices, who were convicted alongside Mackenzie last month, were also sentenced to various prison terms. The self-proclaimed pastor and ⁠⁠his Good News International Church organised a Christian doomsday sect in which they ordered followers to starve themselves and their children to death, so they could go to heaven before the world ended and “meet Jesus”. Mackenzie, wearing a grey polo shirt and black trousers, smiled as he entered a tent set up outside the court where the hearing was held.

He had denied murder charges, saying he did not force the victims to starve, but the court in Mombasa rejected his defence. Police arrested Mackenzie in 2023 after receiving a tip-off.