A High Court judge in Mombasa has sentenced Kenyan preacher Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for the deaths of 191 victims, nearly all of them children, in a case that exposed a deadly fasting cult in a remote forest in coastal Kenya.
Justice Diana Kavedza delivered the sentence on Friday, 6 November 2026, after finding that Mackenzie ordered followers of his Good News International Church to starve themselves and their children to death to reach heaven before the world ended.
Mackenzie, 50, founded the church and warned followers that the world would end in August 2023. He moved families to Shakahola Forest, in Kilifi County, and told them that refusing food and water was the path to heaven. Many lived in mud huts on the 800-acre Chakama Ranch.
The case came to public attention in April 2023, when police began uncovering shallow graves in the forest. President William Ruto appointed a task force the following month. Investigators said guards enforced the fasting orders, while gravediggers helped hide the graves.
200-Year Sentence Breakdown
Kavedza split the punishment into two equal parts. She imposed 100 years for murder by starvation and a further 100 years for direct homicide, and ordered the terms to run one after the other, giving a total of 200 years. 28 accomplices convicted with Mackenzie on 19 October 2026 were also sentenced.
| Sentence detail | Term |
|---|---|
| Murders by starvation | 100 years |
| Direct homicide | 100 years |
| How terms run | Consecutively |
| Total prison term | 200 years |
| Accomplices sentenced | 28 people, 10 to 160 years |
| Assistant pastor Smart Mwakalama | 160 years |
Smart Mwakalama, Mackenzie’s assistant pastor, received 160 years, the longest term among the accomplices.
Starvation Orders in Shakahola Forest
The court heard that Mackenzie told followers fasting would bring them closer to God and prepare them for the end of the world. Parents were told to deny food to their children as well as themselves.
Of the 191 victims, 183 died after being forced to go without food, including 182 children and one adult. Eight more children were killed by direct violence, after being suffocated, strangled or beaten. The court found that 161 victims were aged nine or younger.
Victim Toll Reaches Beyond Trial
The deaths covered by the trial are only part of a wider toll. In 2023, investigators recovered more than 400 bodies from shallow graves in Shakahola Forest. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights later put the total recovered at 448 bodies. Mackenzie is also accused of ordering the deaths of 52 people found at a separate site 30 km away, which would bring the suspected total to 500.
The scale recalls other doomsday tragedies: more than 700 people died in a Ugandan cult in 2000, and more than 900 died at Jonestown in Guyana in 1978.
Judge Explains Death Penalty Decision
Prosecutors had asked the court to impose the death penalty. Kavedza declined. She said a death sentence could reinforce the convicts’ belief that dying would reunite them with Jesus. Kenya has carried out no execution since 1987.
The judge said Mackenzie bore “primary criminal culpability” for moving followers to a remote location and ordering them to fast to death. She also criticised the state, saying it had failed after missing repeated warning signs about Mackenzie since 2017.
Appeal and Further Charges Ahead
Mackenzie’s lawyer has said he will challenge the sentence. The defence has 14 days to file an appeal, counting from the day the sentence was imposed.
The sentencing does not end Mackenzie’s legal problems. He still faces separate charges linked to terrorism, child abuse and torture, as well as manslaughter charges connected with more than 200 further victims.
The court imposed 100 years for murder by starvation and 100 years for direct homicide, to run consecutively, giving a total of 200 years.
Most died from enforced starvation: 183 of the 191 victims, including 182 children and one adult, were starved to death. Eight children were killed by direct violence, after being suffocated, strangled or beaten.
More than 400 bodies were exhumed in 2023. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights says 448 bodies were ultimately recovered. A further 52 deaths at a separate site 30 km away would bring the suspected total to 500.
Mackenzie’s defence has 14 days to appeal, and his lawyer has said he will challenge the sentence. Mackenzie also faces separate terrorism, child abuse and torture charges, plus manslaughter charges linked to more than 200 further victims.
