Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie has appeared in court charged with murdering 191 people after mass graves were found in Kenya. He is standing trial alongside 29 others accused of forcing hundreds of followers, mostly children, to starve themselves to death so they could "meet Jesus".
Shakahola Forest Massacre
The horror is alleged to have unfolded on his 325-hectare ranch in Shakahola Forest, inland from the coastal resort town of Malindi, over a number of years. Investigators have called it the "Shakahola Forest Massacre" and claim hundreds of bodies have been discovered since 2023.
The remains of at least 191 people have been dug up on the grounds, with police saying the majority of them were children.
Court Appearance and Charges
Mackenzie appeared before court on Monday, October 19, and arrived handcuffed for the trial. The self-proclaimed pastor and his co-accused first pleaded not guilty to the 191 murder counts in 2024. Mackenzie also faces separate charges of manslaughter and terrorism, which he also denies.
Victims' relatives travelled to the court to watch proceedings, saying they have lost many family members to the religious cult. One, named Francis Wanje, age 62, said he had lost eight family members at Shakahola, including his daughter and two grandchildren. "This day, to me, is a very, very important day," Wanje told reporters before the court case begun.
Prosecution Allegations
The prosecution alleges Mackenzie "initiated and directed" extreme fasting at the compound and say he created a "structured hierarchy of death" which required children to die first, followed by teenagers, women, and then men.
Post-mortems and police reports show children died from starvation, asphyxia, neck compression and traumatic head injury, among the causes of death prosecutors said.
Defence and Background
Mackenzie's lawyers argue he is innocent, saying there are holes in the evidence, stating the case relies on "circumstantial evidence, hearsay accounts and inconclusive forensic findings".
Police were first made aware of the horrors going on in the compound when a human rights group alerted them after they rescued some "followers". Police attended the scene and then uncovered hundreds of shallow mass graves.
The death toll climbed so high that local morgues ran out of space and excavations had to pause. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights put the death toll at 429 in 2024. Some victims remain unidentified and many believe the true scale of terror cannot be estimated.
Mackenzie founded the Good News International Church in 2003 and opened branches in Nairobi and along Kenya's coast, attracting thousands of followers. He claims the church closed in 2019. He is known to police, having been arrested in 2017 on radicalisation charges, but was later acquitted.
The case has sparked calls for Kenya to introduce tougher regulations on religious organisations. Prosecutors charged Mackenzie in January with 52 additional murders linked to bodies found at a nearby village.
