MOMBASA, Kenya — Pastor Paul Mackenzie, the leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult, has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for the murders of 191 people. The High Court in Mombasa issued the sentence after convicting Mackenzie of ordering his followers to starve themselves to death in order to meet Jesus.
Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, was found to bear the “primary criminal culpability” for relocating his followers to a remote area and directing them to fast to death. Justice Diana Kavedza stated that 183 victims died of starvation, while the other eight deaths were classified as murder by direct homicide.
The court found Mackenzie and 28 of his followers guilty of the murders on Oct. 19. The co-accused, who included guards and gravediggers, received sentences ranging from 160 years in prison. Mackenzie also smiled and chatted with an assistant pastor, Smart Mwakalama, who was sentenced to 160 years.
In 2023, more than 400 bodies were exhumed from shallow graves on the Chakama Ranch in coastal Kilifi County, where cult followers lived in mud huts. While more than 60 bodies were identified and reburied by relatives, many others remain unclaimed.
Mackenzie faces additional charges, including terrorism, manslaughter for the more than 200 other victims, as well as child abuse and torture charges in separate cases. The prosecution had sought the death penalty for Mackenzie and life imprisonment for his accomplices.
All convicted individuals have 14 days to file an appeal. Defense lawyer Lawrence Obonyo confirmed an appeal has been launched, arguing that the lengthy sentences are effectively life sentences and unattainable.
One victim's family member, Suleiman Ziro, who lost six children and his wife, expressed that the sentence was insufficient and called for the death penalty, stating he has yet to recover the bodies of his loved ones. Kenya's last execution was in 1987.