(MOMBASA, KENYA) – A Kenyan court on Monday delivered judgment in the case of cult leader Paul Mackenzie and his co-accused over the deaths of 191 children in the Shakahola massacre, following years of warnings and legal battles over his radical teachings.
The discovery of hundreds of bodies in shallow graves in Shakahola Forest, Kilifi County, from 20th March 2023, exposed a tragedy built on years of religious extremism.
At the centre was preacher Paul Mackenzie, who convinced his followers that fasting to death would help them meet Jesus.
Mackenzie founded Good News International Church in 2003. It was formally registered in 2010.
In 2012, the ministry registered a company, Good News Media (K) Limited, which ran the Times TV station in Malindi.
For years, his activities raised concerns over radicalisation, children’s education and the rejection of modern medicine. Followers were called the Chosen Ones and taught to abandon worldly possessions, while the government was portrayed as an enemy.
In 2017, Mackenzie faced charges linked to spreading radicalisation and running an unregistered educational institution. In one case, he was released after an agreement with the prosecution and ordered to keep the peace.
In another case, he was released on bond and eventually freed in 2021.
That same year, 43 children aged between one and 13 were rescued from GNI premises in the Mayungu area. Reports said some were confined, denied education and indoctrinated.
The court ordered that they receive counselling and treatment before being returned to their families.
In 2019, the Kilifi County Court’s citizens committee discussed complaints about radicalisation of children through Mackenzie’s church and television station. The communications authority later revoked the Times TV licence.
Mackenzie was also charged with distributing unclassified films and running a studio without a licence. On 10th November 2023, he was found guilty of those offences and sentenced to one year and six months in prison, but was acquitted on a charge of inciting people to break the law.
By then, some of his followers had begun moving to Shakahola in 2019, with numbers increasing during the coronavirus pandemic.
The prosecution said followers were taught to fast to death so they could go to heaven, with children expected to die first, followed by women and then men.
Mackenzie and 30 co-accused were later charged with the murders of 191 children. All denied the charges.
The Malindi High Court ruled in 2024 that the charges be reduced to no more than 12, but the Court of Appeal reinstated all 191 charges on 11th April 2025.
The trial began last August after legal disputes, and judgment was delivered at the Mombasa High Court on Monday.
After the tragedy was exposed, the Judicial Service Commission said it would investigate how Mackenzie’s earlier cases were handled to establish whether there were gaps in the delivery of justice.
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