A Kenyan court convicted Paul Mackenzie on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, for the murder of 190 children and one adult. Mackenzie, a former taxi driver and founder of the Good News International Church, was charged following the 2023 discovery of mass graves in the Shakahola Forest near the town of Malindi. He had previously denied charges of murder, manslaughter, child torture, and terrorism.
The investigation began in April 2023 when Kenyan police unearthed human remains in the forest. Authorities eventually recovered more than 400 bodies, nearly half of whom were children. Mackenzie founded his church in 2003 and began broadcasting apocalyptic messages through his TV company, Good News Media, and a YouTube channel. He instructed followers to starve themselves and their children to reach heaven before what he claimed would be the end of the world in 2023.
Evidence presented in the case and reports from the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) indicated that Mackenzie moved his operations to the Shakahola Forest in 2019 after his church in Malindi was shut down. The KNCHR found that while people were lured to the site by promises of affordable land, an armed militia enforced fasting. The commission reported that those who refused to fast or attempted to escape were strangled or clubbed to death. Mackenzie also forbade followers from using schools or hospitals, labeling them as satanic.
This conviction involves the deaths of 191 people, though more than 400 bodies total were recovered. For families involved, such as Stephen Mwiti, who lost a wife and six children, the verdict follows the discovery of mass graves that began in 2023. The case highlights the impact of unregulated religious organizations in Kenya, a predominantly Christian nation where thousands of people followed Mackenzie’s teachings both in person and online.
The ruling establishes a precedent regarding the accountability of religious leaders for the deaths of their followers. The KNCHR noted that Mackenzie had been arrested as early as 2017 for radicalization but continued to operate for years, pointing to what the commission described as failures in investigation and prosecution processes. Kenyan President William Ruto stated that government agencies should have prevented the deaths and accepted responsibility for the oversight. The case has led to increased scrutiny of church governance, as Mackenzie had previously been charged for operating an unregistered school and forbidding medical treatment.
What happens next involves additional legal proceedings against Mackenzie. While this conviction covers 191 deaths, prosecutors have also charged him in connection with the deaths of 52 other people whose bodies were exhumed in Kwa Binzaro village. Prosecutors allege that Mackenzie masterminded these offenses while in detention through continued radical teachings. Mackenzie has pleaded not guilty in that separate case. The court has not yet announced the sentencing date for the current murder conviction. Additionally, the government has not specified what new regulations or oversight measures will be implemented for churches following this verdict.