Leader of Kenyan cult found guilty in the death of 190 children. He forced parents to starve them

During the trial, the accused denied killing people or forcing them to die. However, the investigation and the court concluded that in the cult camp, people were not only starved but also suffocated and beaten to death.

Just three years ago, more than 400 bodies were found in the Shakahola forest, near the Indian Ocean coast, where the cult's camp was located. Some of the deceased remain unidentified because the remains were heavily decomposed. In court documents, they are labeled, for example, as "unknown male child," indicating the coordinates of the grave and the date of discovery.

Paul Mackenzie founded the evangelical cult "Good News International Ministries" in 2003. He previously worked as a taxi driver in Nairobi. Over the next 16 years, his followers grew to thousands, and branches of the cult appeared in various parts of Kenya. The organization even had its own TV channel, Times TV, which broadcast from the city of Malindi on the Indian Ocean coast and aired Mackenzie's sermons.

In 2019, the preacher closed the main branch of the cult and, along with his followers, moved to the Shakahola forest, approximately 70 kilometers from Malindi.

Mackenzie convinced believers that modern education and medicine were evil. According to the testimony of one of his associates, the preacher stated that those who resisted the order to fast should be "sent to heaven with kicks and blows." Burials in shallow graves in the forest were called "marriage to Christ" by the cult.

In addition to murders, Mackenzie and other cult leaders are accused of terrorism, radicalizing followers, and depriving children of access to education. They were arrested in 2023 after the discovery of mass graves in Shakahola.

17 local residents were hired for the exhumation and removal of bodies. One of them, James, told the BBC that at least three bodies were found in each grave. According to him, the remains included bodies of infants just a few weeks old. In one grave, 12 children's bodies were found at once.

Despite the scale of the tragedy, some of Mackenzie's followers continue to believe in him. Young Kenyan believer Peter Shukrani almost died in the Shakahola forest when his mother threw away his necessary medication, believing it contradicted God's will. Peter was carried out of the forest on a stretcher, after which he spent several more weeks in the hospital.

However, even after this, Shukrani continued to consider Mackenzie a good person who cared for him. Before the announcement of the court verdict, he told journalists that Mackenzie forced no one to fast, and people made that choice themselves because they believed in him. He also said that he still loves the preacher and considers him his pastor.

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