Pastor Jailed 200 Years for Tricking 191 Followers into Starving Themselves to Death to Meet Jesus

Paul Mackenzie, founder of the Good News International Church

A Kenyan court has convicted and sentenced a Kenyan pastor to 200 years in prison for deceiving over 191 of his followers that starving themselves would bring them closer to Jesus.

He was sentenced to 200 years in prison after 191 people, including 190 children, died in what became known as the Shakahola Forest massacre.

Paul Mackenzie, founder of the Good News International Church, received the sentence on Friday at the Mombasa High Court for his role in the deaths of followers who were subjected to forced fasting, abuse and violence.

The court sentenced him to 100 years for deaths caused by starvation and another 100 years for victims who were killed through direct violence.

Lady Justice Diana Kavedza, while delivering the sentence, said 183 of the 191 victims died from starvation. They included 182 children and one adult. The remaining eight victims, all children, were suffocated, strangled or beaten to death.

The scale of the tragedy was reflected in the victims’ ages. According to the judge, 161 children were aged nine or younger, while 22 were between 10 and 13. Five others were aged between 14 and 16.

Mackenzie had persuaded his followers to abandon their homes and move to Shakahola Forest in eastern Kenya, where he promised that fasting would prepare them for heaven.

But what was presented as a path to salvation became a deadly exercise in control.

The court found that followers were prevented from leaving the forest, while children were restrained, denied food and punished when they attempted to eat or escape.

Mackenzie’s teachings centred on doomsday predictions and the belief that the world would end in August 2023, according to a Kenyan Senate report on the deaths.

He told followers that fasting was necessary to “meet Jesus”. Children were expected to die first, followed by young people and women, while men were expected to remain alive long enough to bury the bodies before eventually dying themselves.

The judge said Mackenzie used sermons and written materials to convince followers that the outside world was evil and that salvation could only be found in the forest.

Messages recovered from his phone, including WhatsApp conversations, showed that he had communicated with followers before they moved to Shakahola.

Survivors also told the court that deaths in the forest were celebrated as “weddings to Jesus”, with those who died described as “heroes of faith”.

Post-mortem examinations further showed that some victims did not die from starvation alone. Some had injuries consistent with suffocation, strangulation and blows to the head.

The shocking discovery began in April 2023 after a man reported that his wife and daughter had joined Mackenzie’s religious group in a remote part of Kenya but had failed to return.

When police entered the forest, they found shallow graves and severely weakened survivors who said they had been instructed to starve themselves to “meet Jesus”.

Investigators later uncovered more graves containing bodies, many of them children. Authorities have recovered 429 bodies from the forest, according to Kenya’s National Commission on Human Rights.

The 191 deaths covered by Mackenzie’s murder conviction are part of the wider Shakahola tragedy, with further legal proceedings expected.

The pastor was arrested in April 2023 after authorities were alerted to the deaths. He had previously faced scrutiny over his teachings, including discouraging parents from sending their children to school and telling followers that hospitals were satanic.

The case has renewed calls for tighter regulation of religious organisations in Kenya, particularly after it emerged that Mackenzie had been arrested on previous occasions but was released.

The sentence has brought some relief to families who lost relatives, but it has done little to ease their pain.

Rodgers Shibutse, a Nairobi resident who identified his mother’s remains among those recovered in February 2024, told CNN that the punishment could never compensate for her death.

“I cannot say that I am 100% satisfied. It [the verdict] is not enough to pay for the life of my mum, but we have no other choice,” he said.

“At least, he [Mackenzie] cannot finish the 200 years in jail and will die eventually.”

Francis Wanje, a 62-year-old teacher who lost two grandchildren, said he had hoped the pastor would receive the death penalty.

“Nothing can ease the pain,” he said, while blaming authorities for failing to act earlier.

“I really have great [anger] towards the authorities. If they had taken action, we would not be here today,” he added.

Prosecutors had requested the death penalty, citing the number of victims and the seriousness of the crimes. Although Kenya’s laws provide for capital punishment, the country has not carried out an execution since 1987.

Mackenzie’s lawyer has said he would appeal the conviction. The pastor also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism cases, which he has denied.