Doomsday Preacher Jailed For Massacre of 190 Children - Newsweek

Paul Mackenzie, the leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult, has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for murdering 190 children and one adult.

Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, was arrested in 2023 after 400 bodies were exhumed from shallow graves.

Followers of the organization were encouraged to starve themselves as part of their religious obligation.

Mackenzie is self-proclaimed pastor and leader of a new age Christian apocalyptic cult Good News International Church which he founded in 2003.

By the time its main church closed in 2019, it had thousands of followers in its branches across Kenya.

The church ran Times TV which broadcast his sermons from Malindi where he railed against healthcare and education.

Mackenzie moved to Shakahola forest, Kilifi County, by the Kenyan coast, where many of his followers joined him.

In 2023, Mackenzie and 27 others were arrested after the hundreds of bodies were found in the forest.

He was accused of instructing members of his cult to starve their children to death so they could "meet Jesus" of whom they believed Mackenzie was a mouthpiece.

Prosecutors in the court in Mombasa had demanded the death penalty for Mackenzie and life sentences for his co-accused as they cited what they said was a lack of remorse.

Kenya has not executed anyone since 1987.

Mackenzie and the co-accused had asked for leniency from the court having pleaded not guilty and insisting no one was forced to die. They were convicted on October 19.

Before their conviction, they had all pleaded not guilty and repeatedly insisted that nobody was forced to die.

Post-mortem results concluded the deaths were from starvation, suffocation, strangulation or head injuries.

One of Mackenzie's co-accused said he had told his followers that anyone who refused to fast "must be forced to go to heaven through kicks and blows".

The judge Justice Diana Mochache said those who were buried in the forest "were celebrated as having wedded with Jesus."

The case shocked Kenya and garnered global media attention. Kenyan president William Ruto set up a commission of inquiry, but this was declared unconstitutional.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) found that local administration and law enforcement officials had repeatedly turned a blind eye to the cult's activities.

This is a developing story and will be updated.