Crimeupdated 1h ago2 min read
Paul Mackenzie Convicted in Mombasa Shakahola Starvation Cult Case, Court Finds 191 Murdered
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191 people murdered in Shakahola cult, mostly children Paul Mackenzie and about 29 co-accused convicted of murder
Mackenzie Convicted in Mombasa
A court in Mombasa found Paul Mackenzie and his associates guilty of murdering 191 people, all but one of whom were children, in the Shakahola starvation cult case. Justice Diana Mochache delivered an eight-hour judgement in the port city of Mombasa, and the BBC reported that Mackenzie ordered members of his cult to starve their children to death so they could "meet Jesus".
The judge told the court that Mackenzie's followers believed he was "Jesus's mouthpiece," and the court convicted 28 other leaders of murder alongside Mackenzie. Prosecutors dubbed the trial one of Kenya’s "most consequential" criminal cases ever, and the office of the director of public prosecutions said the court found the deaths resulted from an "organised system" using religious teachings and an established hierarchy to enforce deadly fasting.
Doctrine, Violence, and Testimony
The court described Mackenzie’s doctrine as forbidding education and modern medicine, and the BBC said the doctrine said that education was forbidden and modern medicine was "evil". One co-accused said Mackenzie told followers that anyone who "resisted the directive to fast must be forced to go to heaven through kicks and blows".
A witness described a pregnant woman being barred from nursing her new-born baby, and the witness said, "She was instructed to fast to death and follow her children," the witness said. Lady Justice Diana Kavedza-Mochache told the court that "Where starvation did not produce death, the children were killed by hand," linking the verdict to violence beyond fasting.
Sentencing and Ongoing Cases
Mackenzie is due to be sentenced on 6 November after the court found him guilty of murdering 191 people, and the verdict also convicted 28 other leaders of murder. Mackenzie and his co-accused will be handed their sentence on November 6, and the director of public prosecutions said guards controlled movement and prevented followers from escaping.
Stephen Mwiti, 48, told the BBC from his home in Malindi that he lost all six of his children to the cult, and Mwiti said, "All six of my children died in Shakahola forest," holding a photograph of his family. Mackenzie and other leaders face a raft of other legal cases, including for terrorism, radicalisation and denying education to children, while CNN said further charges could follow.