A Kenyan court on Monday convicted preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie in a 191-count Shakahola murder case, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said, with sentencing set for Nov. 6.
The ODPP identified the victims in the case as 190 children and one adult. In its account of the ruling, the office said Mackenzie led Good News International Ministries, where religious teachings and a hierarchy were used to compel followers to fast. It said the judgment recorded beatings and confinement for people who resisted, with children selected first. The court also ruled that a child could not make a meaningful choice to take part in a practice that would end in death and held parents responsible for protecting their lives.
Kenya News Agency reported that investigators recovered 429 bodies from Shakahola Forest between April and July 2023. The 191 charges cover only a portion of those deaths.
Kenya’s Court of Appeal allowed prosecutors in 2025 to proceed with all 191 counts after a lower court had directed them to cut the case to no more than 12. The ODPP lists the victims as 190 children and one adult, while the appellate court described the original charges as involving children, leaving different descriptions of the case’s victim breakdown.
The Associated Press reported that Mackenzie and others also face separate charges linked to more than 230 additional deaths, as EconoTimes previously reported.
After the verdict, Kenya’s Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga said, “This is the day most of us have been waiting for.” Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 6.
