Hunger cult leader in Kenya sentenced to 200 years in prison.

In Kenya, a self-proclaimed pastor and cult leader has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for murder. The High Court in Mombasa found it proven that Paul Mackenzie was responsible for the deaths of 190 children and young people and one adult. He took his followers to a remote place and instructed them to fast until death "to meet Jesus," said presiding judge Diana Kavedza.

Mackenzie was the leader of a doomsday cult. According to the indictment, he “initiated and directed” extreme fasting practices on his ranch in the Shakahola Forest. Accordingly, there was a "structured hierarchy of death", according to which children should die first, then young people and women and lastly men. Most of the children had starved to death, but were also killed by "suffocation, strangulation and severe head injuries".

In 2023, more than 400 bodies were recovered from shallow mass graves on the ranch. Survivors reported that Mackenzie told them that the end of the world was imminent and that they should fast to death "so they could see Jesus."

The court in Mombasa had already found Mackenzie guilty of murder in October. Judge Kavedza spoke of an organized system that used religious teachings to entice its victims to fast to death.

According to their information, 183 of the 191 victims died due to complete deprivation of food. The remaining eight cases were direct homicides. Kavedza described the actions as “cold-blooded and calculated.” The perpetrators showed no remorse.

Now the sentence has been announced. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Mackenzie. Two further cases of terrorism, child abuse and torture are pending against the preacher. He is also said to have ordered the deaths of 52 people in a village while in custody.

Mackenzie smiled several times during the sentencing. His lawyers then announced that they would appeal the verdict.

Convicted with Mackenzie were 28 of his followers, including guards who enforced his fasting instructions and gravediggers who helped conceal the mass graves. An assistant preacher was sentenced to 160 years in prison.

The cult's followers lived on the ranch in mud huts, isolated from surrounding communities and the authorities. The former taxi driver Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after human rights groups tipped off the investigating authorities and some of the cult leader's followers were saved from starvation.

With information from Bettina Rühl, ARD Nairobi