Leader Sentenced to 200 Years in Prison for 190 Children

Paul McKenzie, the founder of the Good News International Church, was sentenced Friday along with more than two dozen other people at Mombasa Supreme Court, CNN reported.

Mackenzie preached that the world would end in August 2023 and that followers must fast to get to heaven. According to a Kenyan Senate death report, his teachings were based on beliefs in the “end of the world.” Children were supposed to die first, followed by young men and women. The men were expected to live long enough to bury the bodies before they died.

McKenzie's sentence consisted of 100 years in prison for killing those who died of starvation and 100 years for those who died as a result of direct murder.

In her sentencing speech, Judge Diana Kaveza notes that the 161 victims were a child aged 9 and younger. Twenty-two of them were between 10 and 13 years old and five were between 14 and 16 years old. The age of the other two could not be determined. She also reported that several children of the convicts were missing and are considered dead.

The judge added that 183 of the 191 victims died of starvation, including 182 children and one adult. The remaining eight victims, all children, were strangled or beaten to death.

Mackenzie persuaded his followers to leave their homes and move to the Shakahola Forest in eastern Kenya, promising that fasting there would bring them closer to God and prepare them for heaven.

The court found that religious teachings were used to observe fasting. The guards monitored the movement of the protesters and prevented them from leaving. Those who resisted were forced to comply, while children were tied up, denied food and punished when they tried to eat or run away.

McKenzie was found guilty of murder last month. In her decision, Kaveza described how he 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 retrieved from his phone, including instant messaging correspondence, showed he communicated with followers before they moved to Shakahola Forest.

Kaveza notes that most of the convicts showed no remorse for their actions. McKenzie smiled several times during Friday's sentencing.

Survivors testified that death in the forest was celebrated as a “marriage to Jesus,” and those who died were considered “heroes of faith,” Caveza said.

The autopsy results cited by the judge showed that starvation was not the only cause of death. Some victims died from suffocation, neck compression or head injuries.

Authorities began exhuming bodies at Shakahol in April 2023 after reports that people had died following Mackenzie's teachings. More than 400 bodies have been found so far. The convictions in 191 murder cases concern victims in a case heard last month, although new charges could follow.

Rogers Shibutse, a Nairobi resident who identified his mother's remains among those exhumed in February 2024, told CNN after the sentencing on Friday: "I can't say I'm 100% satisfied." This sentence is not enough to save my mother's life, but we have no other choice. At least Mackenzie will not be able to serve 200 years in prison and sooner or later die.