Kenyan Pastor Convicted After Hundreds of Children, Others Found Dead in Shakahola Forest

(Paul Mackenzie. Photo Credit: The Times and Sunday Times)

A Kenyan court has found pastor Paul Mackenzie guilty of murdering 191 people.

All but one of the victims were children.

Prosecutors said he told his followers to starve themselves and their children so they could meet Jesus.

Twenty eight other cult leaders were also convicted.

Justice Diana Mochache said the followers believed Mackenzie was Jesus mouthpiece.

A co accused said he ordered that anyone who refused to fast must be forced to go to heaven through kicks and blows.

A witness said a pregnant woman was stopped from feeding her newborn, and the baby died 12 days later.

More than 400 bodies were found in Shakahola Forest after his arrest in 2023.

One man, Stephen Mwiti, lost all six of his children there.

He said he is glad the convictions came through.

Gravediggers said some graves held at least three bodies, and some of the dead were babies only a few weeks old.

Mackenzie son, Dan Paul Mackenzie, said his father was a leader people looked up to and that he is a mass murderer.