Controversial preacher and founder of Good News International Ministries Paul Nthenge Mackenzie has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for his role in the deaths of 191 followers in the Shakahola massacre.
The sentence was delivered on Friday, November 6, 2026, by Lady Justice Diana Kavedza Mochache at the High Court in Mombasa, following Mackenzie’s conviction on 191 counts of murder involving 190 children and one adult.
The court’s decision came after the prosecution urged it to impose the death penalty, arguing that the scale of the killings and Mackenzie’s role in the deaths warranted the harshest punishment available under the law.
However, Justice Kavedza handed him a 200-year custodial sentence instead.
Mackenzie was convicted on October 19, 2026, alongside 28 co-accused persons after the court found that the prosecution had proved its case against them beyond reasonable doubt.
In its judgment, the court established that Mackenzie directed followers to undertake extreme fasting in Shakahola Forest, Kilifi County, under the belief that they would meet Jesus.
The court rejected the defence argument that the victims had voluntarily chosen to fast, finding that the practice was enforced through an organised system of religious indoctrination, intimidation and violence.
Justice Kavedza found that children were targeted first before the practice extended to young people, women and men. Followers who resisted were subjected to force, while the movement’s teachings encouraged isolation from society and discouraged formal education and modern medicine.
The murder charges arose from deaths recorded in Shakahola Forest between January 2021 and September 2023. Mackenzie and his followers had established a settlement in the forest, where members were encouraged to abandon ordinary life in preparation for what they believed was the end of the world.
The case emerged in April 2023 after authorities discovered mass graves in the forest, prompting an extensive search and investigation. Subsequent exhumations uncovered more than 400 bodies, although the 191 deaths formed the basis of the murder trial.
The prosecution called approximately 120 witnesses during the proceedings, presenting evidence on the circumstances surrounding the deaths and the alleged system through which followers were recruited, isolated and subjected to fasting.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions had argued that Mackenzie deserved the maximum punishment because of the number of victims and the seriousness of the offences. It also asked the court to impose life imprisonment on the other convicted persons.
The sentencing marks a major development in one of Kenya’s most consequential criminal cases, which triggered national debate over religious extremism, the protection of children and the regulation of religious organisations.
Mackenzie also faces separate legal proceedings relating to other alleged offences, meaning the 200-year sentence does not bring all the cases against him to an end.
