NAIROBI, Kenya- Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and 28 co-accused have been convicted of murdering 191 people, including 190 children, in the Shakahola deaths case.
The High Court in Malindi found on Monday, October 19, that the prosecution had proved its case against all 29 accused who faced judgment.
Justice Diana Kavedza ruled that Mackenzie and the others took part in an organised system that used religious teachings and enforced fasting, leading to the deaths of followers in Shakahola Forest, Kilifi County.
The judgment covered deaths between January 2021 and September 2023.
The court heard evidence from 120 prosecution witnesses, while nine witnesses testified for the defence.
It found that Mackenzie, who led the Good News International Church, encouraged followers to reject formal education, medical treatment and government institutions, and to move to the forest.
The judge found that fasting was imposed through an organised structure. Children were targeted first, and guards prevented some followers from escaping or accessing food, according to evidence summarised in the judgment.
The court also heard that people who resisted faced violence, including beatings and confinement.
Forensic evidence linked starvation to some deaths.
Other victims died from asphyxia, neck compression or head injuries, while in some cases decomposition prevented experts from determining the cause of death.
The court said survivor testimony and the circumstances surrounding the burials supported its findings.
How the Shakahola deaths came to light
The case emerged in March 2023, after a report about children who had allegedly starved in the forest prompted investigations.
Authorities later began exhuming bodies from shallow graves in the area.
More than 400 bodies were recovered during the exhumations, but Monday’s murder judgment concerned 191 deaths.
The wider death toll and other investigations are separate from the counts decided in this trial.
Mackenzie and his co-accused had denied the murder charges.
The defence argued that followers had fasted voluntarily, but the court rejected that position, finding that children could not consent to being starved to death and that evidence showed some had been coerced or prevented from reaching food.
Of the 31 people originally accused in the murder case, two died during proceedings and one, Enos Amanya Ngala, pleaded guilty to all 191 counts.
Mackenzie and the 28 others were convicted after the trial.
The case has raised questions about the oversight of religious organisations and how the activities at Shakahola continued before the deaths were uncovered.
It has also drawn attention to the duty of authorities to protect children and investigate reports of abuse.
Mackenzie and the 28 co-accused are due to be sentenced on November 6.
His lawyer told Reuters that the group had instructed him to appeal.
Mackenzie also faces separate charges linked to other deaths and terrorism allegations, which he has denied.
