Kenya cult leader, who incited followers to starve to death to ‘meet Jesus’ charged with murdering 191 children
- Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie is alleged to have incited hundreds of his acolytes to starve to death to ‘meet Jesus’
- He was arrested in April 2023 after bodies were found in the Shakahola forest. Autopsies revealed most of the 429 victims died of hunger
A Kenyan court on Tuesday charged the leader of a starvation cult and dozens of suspected accomplices with murdering nearly 200 children in a forest near the Indian Ocean.
Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, who has already been charged with terrorism, manslaughter as well as child torture and cruelty, is alleged to have incited hundreds of his acolytes to starve to death to “meet Jesus”.
On Tuesday, Mackenzie and 29 other suspects pleaded not guilty to 191 counts of murder, including of three infants, according to court documents seen by Agence France-Presse.
A 31st suspect was deemed to lack the mental fitness to stand trial and ordered to return to the Malindi High Court in a month’s time.
The cult leader has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
He was arrested in April last year after bodies were found in the Shakahola forest, with the grisly discoveries provoking horror across the world.
Autopsies revealed most of the 429 victims died of hunger.
But others, including children, appeared to have been strangled, beaten or suffocated.
