Pastor Paul Mackenzie, the leader of Kenya's Good News International Church, has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for his role in the deaths of 191 people. The High Court in Mombasa issued the sentence on Friday, convicting Mackenzie of murder for ordering his followers to starve themselves to death to "meet Jesus."
Justice Diana Kavedza stated that Mackenzie bore the primary criminal responsibility for relocating his followers to a remote area and instructing them to fast until death. Mackenzie was charged alongside 28 co-defendants, including individuals accused of enforcing the fasting directives and concealing the mass graves. All pleaded not guilty, with one defendant confessing and seeking leniency.
The court found all 29 accused guilty of the murders on October 19. In 2023, authorities exhumed more than 400 bodies from shallow graves on the Chakama Ranch in Kilifi County, where Mackenzie's followers had lived in mud huts, isolated from communities and authorities.