# Kenyan Court Convicts Self-Proclaimed Pastor Over 191 Starvation Deaths in Shakahola

> Paul Mackenzie and several associates were found guilty of murder after a court ruled they orchestrated an organized starvation campaign among followers of a doomsday sect, most of the victims children.

- Source: African Economy
- Canonical URL: https://africaneconomy.net/article/kenya-cult-leader-guilty-shakahola-starvation-deaths
- Author: African Economy Staff
- Section: Policy & Governance
- Published: 2026-10-21T11:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T11:00:00.000Z
- Tags: Kenya, Shakahola, Paul Mackenzie, court verdict, justice

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A Kenyan court has convicted self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie and a number of his associates of murder over the deaths of 191 people, nearly all of them children, linked to his Good News International Church, according to a report by IOL. The court found that Mackenzie and his co-defendants ran an organized system of religious radicalization and enforced fasting among followers of the doomsday sect, who were told that starving themselves and their children would let them reach heaven before the end of the world.

Prosecutors told the court that fasting inside the group was carried out in stages, starting with children, while guards restricted people's movement and prevented them from leaving. The case first came to light in April 2023, when authorities began uncovering shallow graves in the Shakahola forest in coastal Kenya; more than 400 bodies have since been recovered in the area, and a significant number of victims have still not been identified.

The court has set November 6 as the date it will hand down sentences for Mackenzie and the others convicted alongside him. Families of victims who have followed the case for more than two years said the verdict was a long-awaited acknowledgment of what happened at Shakahola, even as the broader effort to identify every person buried there continues.

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Originally published by African Economy. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://africaneconomy.net/article/kenya-cult-leader-guilty-shakahola-starvation-deaths.