Paul Mackenzie sentenced to 200 years for 191 murders
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Africanews and The Maravi Post
Kenyan preacher Paul Mackenzie has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for the murder of 190 children and one adult in the Shakahola cult case. The sentence comprises 100 years for the homicides and 100 years for charges linked to starvation, according to AFP.
Paul Mackenzie, a former taxi driver who became a self-proclaimed preacher in Kenya, was sentenced on Friday to 200 years in prison for the murder of 190 children and one adult in the Shakahola massacre case. The court imposed 100 years for the homicide charges and 100 years for acts linked to starvation, according to Africanews.
Twenty-eight co-defendants also received lengthy sentences. Mackenzie's lawyer announced his intention to appeal. The preacher is also facing prosecution for manslaughter and terrorism in other proceedings, charges he contests.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, while Kenya provides for the punishment but has carried out no executions since 1987. About 120 witnesses testified at the trial, which established that Mackenzie's movement rejected formal education and modern medicine and required its members to cut themselves off from the outside world, according to Africanews.
Police arrested Mackenzie in April 2023 after a human rights organisation raised the alarm and some followers were rescued from a 325-hectare ranch in the Shakahola forest. The Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights estimated the death toll at 429 in 2024, with some bodies still unidentified, according to Africanews.
The conviction comes after the guilty pleas of 29 defendants on 20 October in the case. Prosecutors subsequently sought the death penalty against Mackenzie on 3 November.
