Kenya Hunger Cult Leader Paul Mackenzie Case

The hunger cult case in Kenya involving leader Paul Mackenzie is a criminal trial against Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and others associated with the religious group Good News International Ministries, following the deaths of hundreds of people in 2023 in the Shakahola Forest on Kenya’s coast. Mackenzie has been accused of directing followers and children to engage in fatal fasting practices under the belief that they would reunite with Jesus before the end times. Following the discovery of over 400 bodies in the Shakahola Forest, an investigation was launched, leading to charges against Mackenzie and other defendants including murder terrorism radicalization and denial of children’s right to education. The High Court in Mombasa Kenya on 19 October 2026 found Mackenzie and 28 other defendants guilty of the murder of 191 people 190 of whom were children. The court rejected the defense that the deaths resulted from voluntary religious fasting.

Paul Nthenge Mackenzie is a former taxi driver and religious leader who founded the religious group Good News International Ministries in Kenya and is known for his apocalyptic teachings claiming to be a pastor.

Mackenzie co-founded Good News International Ministries in 2003 with his wife in the town of Malindi in southeastern Kenya. The organization expanded over subsequent years opening branches across different regions of the country and reaching thousands of followers.

_{Papaz Paul Mackenzie ve Onunla Birlikte Yargılanan Diğer Sanıklar (19 Ekim, 2026) Anadolu Ajansı}

In his sermons Mackenzie argued that the end of the world was imminent and condemned modern education systems healthcare services and digital identity applications as contrary to his religious doctrines. He is reported to have urged followers not to send their children to school avoid using medicine when ill and destroy certain official identification documents.

Mackenzie’s sermons were also broadcast through Times TV a television channel operated by the group. These broadcasts contributed to the organization’s recognition across Kenya.

Good News International Ministries initially operated as a religious community centered in Malindi. Mackenzie’s apocalyptic teachings gradually evolved into strict rules governing followers’ daily lives. The community opposed the use of modern medicine banned children from attending school and promoted prolonged fasting as the path to spiritual salvation.

Some of Mackenzie’s followers believed he could communicate directly with God. In the 2026 court ruling Judge Diana Kavedza Mochache stated that followers regarded Mackenzie as the voice of Jesus.

Kenyan authorities began investigating Mackenzie’s activities in 2017. After the closure of his church and television channel in 2019 Mackenzie encouraged his followers to relocate to the Shakahola Forest approximately 70 kilometers from Malindi.

Members of the cult who settled in the Shakahola Forest in Kenya’s Kilifi County lived in makeshift shelters constructed from mud brick reeds and plastic sheeting scattered across a large forested area.

The settlement areas were divided into sections named after biblical locations such as Jerusalem and Judea. Followers had limited contact with the outside world and conducted their daily lives according to Mackenzie’s religious instructions.

According to survivors testimonies members of the community observed periodic fasting but over time these practices became lethal. Prosecutors alleged that Mackenzie planned the mass fasting campaign in stages. According to the claims children were first targeted followed by women and young men and finally other men and religious leaders.

_{Photographs from the Case Seen in Kenya (October 19, 2026) Anadolu Agency}

No evidence has been presented indicating that Mackenzie himself participated in the same lethal fasting practices.

The deaths in the Shakahola Forest began to come to light in March 2023 following reports from local residents and some family members to authorities. Investigations were launched after individuals reported that their relatives had died in the forest where the cult was based.

Mackenzie was arrested in March 2023 but released on bail. After being rearrested in April police teams began extensive search and excavation operations in the forested area.

Numerous shallow mass graves were uncovered during the excavations. Authorities recovered over 400 bodies. A total of 429 deaths linked to the incident were recorded and hundreds more were reported missing.

A significant proportion of the bodies were identified as children. Some victims died of starvation others from drowning or blunt force trauma. Advanced decomposition made identification difficult and some victims were only described in court documents by the location and date of their exhumation. Of the more than 400 bodies recovered by 2026 only 26 had been positively identified.

_{Photographs from the Case Seen in Kenya (October 19, 2026) Anadolu Agency}

One of the most critical aspects of the investigation was witness testimony regarding children’s deaths. Prosecutors alleged that children were deliberately deprived of food and in some cases abandoned to die under the supervision of their own families.

A witness testified in court that a woman who had just given birth was prevented from breastfeeding her infant and the baby died 12 days later. Another testimony stated that Mackenzie ordered physical violence against those who resisted his fasting directives.

Workers involved in opening the graves in the forest reported finding multiple children’s bodies in single graves and some victims with their hands and feet bound.

Judge Mochache in her ruling explained that burial rituals in the forest were referred to within the cult as “weddings” and that the deceased were believed to have married Jesus.

Individuals rescued from the Shakahola Forest provided varied accounts of the cult’s activities and living conditions. Peter Shukrani one of the survivors said he had joined Mackenzie’s church since childhood and moved to the forest with his mother. He stated that when he fell ill in the forest he was forbidden from taking medicine and that his mother had thrown away his medication due to religious beliefs.

Although Shukrani acknowledged he might have died had he not been rescued he continued to regard Mackenzie as his spiritual father. Stephen Mwiti who lost six children in the Shakahola Forest said he was only able to recover and bury the body of one child Samuel. Mwiti’s former wife was among those convicted alongside Mackenzie for murder.

Another victim’s relative Francis Wanje stated he lost eight family members including two grandchildren due to the cult. Witness testimonies were evaluated as evidence demonstrating the cult’s influence on families and the role of the religious leader in shaping followers’ decisions.

_{Photographs from the Case Seen in Kenya (October 19, 2026) Anadolu Agency}

Paul Mackenzie was arrested in 2023 following the discovery of mass graves in the Shakahola Forest. In January 2024 he was charged with 191 separate counts of murder. Good News International Ministries was subsequently banned by Kenyan authorities as an organized criminal group.

Numerous cult leaders and followers were also taken into custody and faced judicial proceedings on charges of murder and terrorism. Mackenzie and the other defendants denied the murder charges asserting that victims had fasted to death voluntarily in accordance with their religious beliefs.

Mackenzie’s former security officer Enos Amanya Ngala was initially among the defendants but later agreed to testify for the prosecution. It was also reported that 65 rescued individuals were initially suspected of attempted suicide but the court later ordered them to be held under supervision in a rehabilitation center.

On 19 October 2026 the High Court in Mombasa Kenya delivered its verdict in the murder case against Paul Mackenzie and the other defendants. In an eight-hour hearing presided over by Judge Diana Kavedza Mochache Mackenzie and 28 other defendants were found guilty of murdering 190 children and one adult.

_{Duruşmayı Yöneten Yüksek Mahkeme Yargıcı Diana Kavedza-Mochache (19 Ekim, 2026) Anadolu Ajansı}

The court ruled that the prosecution had proven the murder charges beyond reasonable doubt. The defense argument that victims had voluntarily engaged in fatal fasting was rejected.

The judge specifically rejected the claim that children had willingly participated in lethal fasting and emphasized that the deliberate deprivation of food to children constituted murder.

The guilty verdict was delivered under Section 203 of the Kenyan Penal Code concerning murder. This ruling marked the first major conviction for murder in connection with the hundreds of deaths uncovered in the Shakahola Forest.

_{Papaz Paul Mackenzie (ortada) ve Onunla Birlikte Yargılanan Diğer Sanıklar (19 Ekim, 2026) Anadolu Ajansı}

On 19 October 2026 the court found Paul Mackenzie and the 28 other defendants guilty. Their sentencing was scheduled for 6 November 2026.

The verdict does not cover all victims found in the Shakahola Forest. The guilty verdict applies only to the case concerning the deaths of 191 individuals. Investigations into other deaths continue.

Mackenzie and the other defendants also face separate charges related to terrorism radicalization and denial of children’s right to education. The prosecution has further alleged that while Mackenzie was in custody he directed activities in the village of Kwa Binzaro approximately 30 kilometers from Shakahola that led to the deaths of an additional 52 people. Mackenzie has denied these charges in the separate case. These allegations are being evaluated independently from the 191 murder convictions issued on 19 October 2026.

The mass deaths in the Shakahola Forest have brought public policy issues regarding oversight of religious organizations and child protection to the forefront. Despite authorities being aware of Mackenzie’s activities since 2017 and the closure of his church in 2019 the fact that practices leading to hundreds of deaths continued for years has drawn criticism toward state institutions for their failure to act.

In a 2023 statement President William Ruto of Kenya stated that state institutions should have been able to prevent the deaths and acknowledged his responsibility as president.

Following the incident calls were made for regulations to monitor religious organizations protect children’s access to education and healthcare and intervene early in cases of religious abuse. The Shakahola case has become one of Kenya’s most significant legal cases in which the influence of religious leaders over followers the violation of children’s rights and the state’s duty of protection are being jointly examined.