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Kenyan cult leader, Paul Mackenzie, has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for his role in the deaths of 191 people, most of them children, in one of the country’s deadliest cult-related tragedies.
Mackenzie was convicted alongside 28 other members of his Good News International Church for instructing followers to starve their children to death in the belief that they would meet Jesus.
Delivering the sentence, Justice Diana Mochache said Mackenzie bore the greatest responsibility for the killings because he had instructed his followers to undertake deadly fasts, the BBC reports.
She described the sentence as appropriate, saying it would send a clear message that such atrocities deserved the maximum punishment permitted by law.
Read more: Kenyan cult leader convicted over deaths of 191 people
Mackenzie received 100 years for homicide and another 100 years for offences related to starvation. The sentences within each category will run concurrently, while the two categories will run consecutively, resulting in an effective prison term of 200 years.
The self-proclaimed pastor was arrested in 2023 after more than 400 bodies were discovered in shallow graves in Shakahola Forest, near Kenya’s coastal region.
The discovery triggered a major investigation that shocked Kenya and attracted international attention.
Although prosecutors had sought the death penalty, arguing that the scale and circumstances of the killings justified the harshest punishment, Justice Mochache declined to impose capital punishment.
She said the death penalty would eliminate any possibility of rehabilitation, despite acknowledging that the case met the threshold for its consideration.
Kenya has not carried out an execution since 1987.
Mackenzie was tried alongside 28 co-accused, including guards who enforced the fasting orders and gravediggers who helped conceal the bodies. They received varying prison terms of up to 160 years.
Justice Mochache described the killings as cold and calculated, noting that the accused had shown no remorse.
Mackenzie and his co-accused had pleaded for leniency and denied forcing anyone to die.
The cult leader also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism charges, which he denies.
Speaking ahead of the sentencing, Francis Wanje, who lost eight relatives, including two grandchildren, in the Shakahola tragedy, told the BBC that he hoped the punishment would reflect the gravity of Mackenzie’s actions.
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