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Paul Mackenzie encouraged his followers to move to Shakahola forest and prepare for the end of the world to meet Jesus
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NAIROBI
The leader of a Kenyan cult accused of encouraging his followers to starve themselves to death is set to face new charges linked to a further 52 deaths at a separate village, prosecutors have said.
Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie was arrested in 2023 after 429 bodies—many of them children—were exhumed from mass graves in the remote Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County.
Mackenzie has remained in custody since his arrest and is accused of orchestrating the latest deaths by issuing instructions through handwritten notes allegedly written from his prison cell. He has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of manslaughter.
In a statement posted on X on Monday, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said it had received approval to “formally charge Good News International Church leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and his co-accused over the deaths of 52 people at the Binzaro homestead in Kilifi County.”
Prosecutors said Mackenzie was “reasonably suspected to have masterminded” the deaths, using “radical teachings and coordinated structures to lure victims” to the remote village.
“Investigators recovered handwritten notes from prison cells occupied by Mackenzie, allegedly detailing transactions conducted through mobile phones,” the statement added.
Mackenzie and several co-accused will face multiple charges, including radicalisation, facilitation of terrorist acts, and murder, in relation to the Binzaro deaths. These charges are in addition to those arising from the Shakahola mass graves, prosecutors said.
Last year, investigators recovered about 34 bodies and more than 100 body parts from the Binzaro area, located approximately 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Shakahola along Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast—discoveries that led to the latest charges.
Shakahola mass graves
The developments come two weeks after one of Mackenzie’s co-accused, Enos Amanya Ngala, the former head of security at Shakahola, pleaded guilty to charges linked to the deaths of 191 children found in the original mass graves. Survivors have previously told investigators that Mackenzie issued a chilling order in which children were to starve first, followed by unmarried adults, women, men, and finally church leaders.
Mackenzie founded the Good News International Church in 2003 but claimed to have closed it in 2019. He encouraged followers to relocate to Shakahola Forest to prepare for the end of the world and “meet Jesus.”
He preached that formal education was satanic and used it as a means to extort money from followers. In 2017 and again in 2018, he was arrested for discouraging children from attending school, claiming education was “not recognised in the Bible.”
Kenyan authorities have faced sharp criticism following the discovery of the mass graves, with questions raised over whether the deaths could have been prevented through stricter oversight and regulation of religious groups.
Torch Media Africa
