A sect leader in Kenya who incited his followers to starve themselves to death was imprisoned for 200 years

A Kenyan court has sentenced a sect leader to 200 years in prison after he was convicted of killing 190 children and adults after inciting them to starve themselves to death in the hope of “meeting Christ.”

Last month, a court in the coastal city of Mombasa, overlooking the Indian Ocean, convicted Paul McKenzie, who claims to be a priest, along with 28 other defendants, of killing 190 children and adults between January 2021 and September 2023.

In 2023, hundreds of bodies were found in remote areas near the beaches of Malindi in the south of the country.

While McKenzie was sentenced on Friday to 200 years in prison, 26 of the other 28 defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 100 to 160 years, and two others were sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The defense lawyer announced his clients' intention to appeal the sentences issued against them.

The judge quoted survivors as saying: “At Shakahula, death was celebrated as a marriage with Jesus, and the dead were considered heroes of the faith.”

He added: “For people who view death as salvation, the death sentence may not be considered a punishment, but rather a victory and a form of martyrdom.”

McKenzie, who also faces charges of manslaughter and terrorism in separate cases, developed a system to starve his followers to death, according to a specific order of the age groups that were supposed to die first, according to what survivors testified.

On Monday, the Ethiopian authorities indefinitely suspended the publication of The Reporter newspaper, one of the rare independent media outlets in the country, and its distribution on the Internet, accusing it of publishing content that “contradicts national interests.”

Violations of press freedom have increased in recent months in Ethiopia, the second largest country in Africa in terms of population, and ranked 148 out of 180 in the Reporters Without Borders organization’s ranking of press freedom.

The Ethiopian Media Authority stated in a statement published on Facebook that the newspaper, which is published in English and Amharic and also has a website, “published information that harms the image of the country, harms national security, and undermines the unity and values ​​of the peoples.”

The Commission considered that these articles “contrary to Ethiopia’s national interests.”

Accordingly, the authority reported that the newspaper’s registration certificate, which has more than 110,000 subscribers on Facebook, “was completely suspended from publishing and broadcasting indefinitely, starting from Monday.”

Last February, the authority canceled the license of another independent media outlet, Addis Standard, which appealed the decision.

The correspondent of the French newspaper La Croix was also expelled from Ethiopia last June.

According to Reporters Without Borders, five journalists are currently detained in Ethiopia, four of whom have been detained for about three years and are being pursued on charges of “terrorism,” and are facing the death penalty.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said today (Monday) that the attacks in northern Ethiopia that reportedly killed children, including a newborn, are pushing the region's fragile health system further to the brink of collapse.

The renewed fighting caused the collapse of a peace agreement dating back to November 2022 between the federal government and rebel forces in the Tigray region, fueling fears of a broader conflict.

Ghebreyesus said in a statement on the “X” platform that children were among those who were reported to have been killed in the “Gari 2” displaced persons camp in the Amhara region. Many people were also reported to have been killed in Rama, in the neighboring Tigray region, while trying to get food.

Ghebreyesus did not give a total number of casualties or dates for either attack, nor did he identify the perpetrators, but he generally referred to drone attacks and civilian casualties that have become frequent across Ethiopia.

Ghebreyesus said that hospitals in the north lack health personnel, medicines and equipment, while ambulance service is very limited, and insecurity hampers the delivery of medical shipments.

He added: “Civilians must be protected, and health workers and humanitarian supplies must be allowed to reach those in need.”