In brief
Paul Mackenzie, the founder of the Good News International Ministries, was found guilty of murdering 191 people – 190 children and one adult – after the discovery of hundreds of bodies in Shakahola forest. The verdict, delivered in Mombasa, confirmed the leader’s command over a doomsday cult that banned medicine and education, and forced followers to starve for a promised “meeting” with Jesus. Twenty‑eight co‑leaders were also convicted, while Mackenzie's former wife and son face separate charges. He was arrested in 2023 and will be sentenced on 6 November. Witnesses from the forest described cramped graves, wrapped bodies, and a community that accepted starvation as faith. The case marks the first time Mackenzie has faced a verdict on murder, reflecting growing scrutiny of extremist religious movements in Kenya.
Paul Mackenzie, the charismatic founder of Good News International Ministries, has been ruled guilty of 191 murders – 190 children and one adult – after a court in Mombasa found that he ordered followers to starve themselves to death in Shakahola forest.
The judge, Diana Mochache, delivered Mombasa’s eight‑hour verdict, noting that Mackenzie’s doctrine declared education a sin, modern medicine an evil force and digital identity cards “the mark of the devil.” The cult’s ultimate goal was a so‑called “wedding” with Jesus, which followers believed would only happen through extreme fasting and self‑inflicted death.
Twenty‑eight other leaders were convicted alongside Mackenzie, though all pleaded not guilty and insisted no one was forced. The trial also discussed terrorism, radicalisation and the denial of education to children – a long‑running campaign by the group that was shut down in 2019.
More than 400 bodies – many children as young as a few weeks – were excavated from shallow graves in Shakahola forest, where members were “encouraged to follow their pastor into the trees.” Witnesses recalled that graves sometimes held dozens of bodies wrapped in bedsheets, with hands tied. “We once found 12 kids lined in a single pit, stacked like clothes,” a gravedigger told the BBC.
Stephen Mwiti, a survivor, lost all six of his children in the forest, and is now a vocal voice for the victims. “If I had stayed in the forest, I would have died too,” he said, holding a photograph of his lost family. His former wife and Mackenzie’s son Dan were also convicted of murder.
Mackenzie was arrested in 2023 following the discovery of the graves. He was the mastermind behind the cult after relocating the church in Shakahola, where he preached a deadly blend of extremism and anti‑modernism. The sentencing is set for 6 November.
The case exposes a network that survived for over a decade under the guise of evangelism, but whose clandestine practices ultimately killed nearly two hundred. The verdict is a landmark moment in Kenya’s struggle against extremist cults and their devastating impact on children.
