RismadarVoice Reporters
October 19, 2026
A Kenyan court has convicted controversial religious leader Paul Mackenzie of murdering 191 people, including 190 children, in a case involving the deliberate starvation of members of his religious movement.
Mackenzie, founder of Good News International Ministries, was convicted alongside 28 other defendants following proceedings connected to the deaths of followers in Kenya’s Shakahola forest.
Delivering judgment in the coastal city of Mombasa on Monday, Justice Diana Mochache found that Mackenzie’s teachings and the actions of his associates contributed to the deaths of victims who had been subjected to extreme fasting and other forms of abuse.
The defendants had pleaded not guilty, maintaining that followers voluntarily participated in the religious practices.
Evidence presented during the proceedings described how members of the movement were allegedly instructed to abandon food, medical treatment and other necessities as part of preparations to meet Jesus Christ.
The court heard allegations that followers who resisted fasting were subjected to violence, while some children were denied food by adults acting under the movement’s teachings.
Investigators also uncovered accounts of deaths involving strangulation and physical assaults, raising concerns that not all victims died from starvation alone.
The case attracted international attention after human remains were discovered in the Shakahola forest in 2023, triggering extensive searches, exhumations and investigations.
Some bodies were recovered from shallow graves containing multiple victims, including young children. Identification efforts have been complicated by decomposition and the condition of the remains.
Mackenzie established Good News International Ministries in 2003 and later moved his activities to the remote forest after closing the church’s main branch in 2019.
His teachings reportedly discouraged formal education, modern healthcare and certain government identification programmes.
Survivors described a community in which religious obedience was strongly emphasised and access to medical care was restricted.
The case has intensified scrutiny of religious extremism, child protection and the responsibility of authorities to intervene when vulnerable people face coercion or abuse.
The convictions represent a significant development in Kenya’s investigation into the Shakahola deaths, one of the country’s most disturbing cases involving a religious movement.
Further court proceedings are expected to determine the penalties to be imposed on those convicted.
