Kenyan Cult Leader Paul Mackenzie Facing Murder Charges for Mass Starvation Strategy

A Kenyan court has ordered cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 30 associates of the Good News International Church to undergo mental health evaluations prior to being formally charged with the murder of 191 children. These charges come after authorities exhumed the children’s bodies from the Shakahola forest since last April. The shocking revelations of this case have brought to light one of the worst cult-related tragedies in recent history.

Mackenzie, who has been in custody since the initial discovery of the bodies, is accused of ordering his followers to starve themselves and their children to death as a means to reach heaven before the end of the world. This horrific strategy, according to sources familiar with the cult’s activities, was to be executed in three phases: first children, then women and young men, and finally the remaining men. More than 400 bodies were eventually uncovered over several months of exhumations across tens of thousands of acres of forest.

The case, unfolding in the coastal town of Malindi, Kenya, has shocked the international community. The prosecution intends to charge a total of 95 people with counts of murder, manslaughter, terrorism, and torture. The investigation into this cult’s activities has been complex and challenging, attributed mainly to the grueling task of locating and exhuming numerous human remains and conducting autopsies.

Paul Mackenzie, who formerly worked as a taxi driver in the coastal city of Mombasa, had established strict rules for his followers, forbidding them from sending their children to school or seeking hospital treatment, labeling such institutions as satanic. This is not Mackenzie’s first brush with the law; he had previously been arrested in 2019 in relation to the deaths of children but was released on bond. Those cases are still pending in court.

In a separate incident, Mackenzie was convicted in December for producing and distributing films without a license, a crime for which he received a 12-month jail sentence. His lawyer, James Mouko, announced plans to appeal against this ruling.

The magnitude of this tragedy places it among the most severe cult-related incidents globally, drawing attention to the dangers of extreme religious beliefs and the vulnerability of those who fall under the influence of charismatic leaders like Mackenzie. The case continues to develop as the court proceedings advance and further details emerge about the cult’s operations and the extent of its impact.