On November 6, 2026, Kenya’s High Court in Mombasa sentenced Paul Mackenzie, the leader of a doomsday church, to 200 years in prison. In October, the court had convicted him of murdering 190 children and one adult. He told his followers to starve themselves to death so they could meet Jesus. Twenty-eight co-defendants were also sentenced.
What the Mombasa Court Decided
Justice Diana Kavedza gave separate 100-year sentences for the murders of child and adult victims, bringing the total custodial term to 200 years. The two terms will run consecutively, so Mackenzie must serve one after the other. Within each category, the individual sentences run at the same time.
The judge said Mackenzie bore the “primary criminal culpability” because he moved his followers to a remote location and ordered them to fast until they died. Mackenzie was convicted on October 19, 2026, together with 28 co-defendants, in a trial covering 191 murders tied to the Shakahola case.
The prosecution asked for the death penalty for Mackenzie and life imprisonment for the others. The judge declined to impose the death penalty, although she said the case came close to the “rarest of rare” standard. She also turned down the defense’s request for sentences of no more than 10 years. Such a term, she said, would have no rational relationship to the loss of 191 lives.
Sentences for Mackenzie’s Co-Defendants
The 28 co-defendants received prison terms based on how much each person took part in the killings and how responsible each was. Among them were guards who enforced Mackenzie’s fasting orders and gravediggers who helped hide the mass graves. His assistant pastor was sentenced to 160 years.
All of the defendants denied the charges except one, who confessed and asked the court for leniency.
Background: Good News International and Shakahola
Mackenzie led Good News International Ministries, also called Good News International Church. Investigators have said he drove a taxi in the early 2000s, before he started the ministry. He was arrested in 2017 on charges of “radicalization” and was acquitted.
His followers lived at the Chakama Ranch in Shakahola, a remote area in Kenya’s coastal region. Mackenzie preached that the end times would come in August 2023 and told his followers to stop eating so they could meet Jesus. He used guards and punishments to enforce these teachings.
Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after a rights group tipped off the authorities, and some of his followers were rescued. That same year, authorities began exhuming bodies from shallow graves on the ranch. The group has been linked to more than 400 deaths. The murder trial covered 191 of them.
What to Watch Next: Other Charges Against Mackenzie
The murder sentence does not end Mackenzie’s legal cases. He still faces terrorism, child abuse and torture charges in two other courts. No hearing dates for those cases have been announced.
FAQ
– Why wasn’t Mackenzie sentenced to death?
The judge chose not to impose the death penalty, though the prosecution asked for it. She said the case came close to the “rarest of rare” standard but gave him two consecutive 100-year terms instead.
– Why does the murder case cover 191 deaths when more than 400 are linked to the group?
The trial in the Mombasa High Court dealt with 191 murder counts: 190 children and one adult. The wider death toll includes bodies recovered from graves at Shakahola beginning in 2023, and Mackenzie faces more charges in two other courts.
– How many people were convicted alongside Mackenzie?
Twenty-eight followers were convicted with him, including guards and gravediggers. Each one’s sentence depended on that person’s role and level of responsibility.