Religion

Shakahola cult leader Paul Mackenzie sentenced to 200 years in prison for the murders of 190 children and one adult

The High Court in Mombasa on Friday 6 November 2026 sentenced Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, to 200 years in prison for the murders of 190 children and one adult in Shakahola Forest, Kilifi County. Justice Diana Kavedza imposed 100 years for murder by starvation and a further 100 years for direct homicide, to run consecutively. Mackenzie was convicted on 19 October alongside 28 co-accused on 191 murder counts; prosecutors had sought the death penalty. One early headline described the sentence as a life term — the court's own sentencing words, quoted in Kenyan court reporting and carried by Reuters and CNN, give the 200-year aggregate, and that is the figure Vozia carries.