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Agence France-Presse

The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult went on trial on Monday on charges of terrorism over the deaths of more than 400 of his followers in a macabre case that shocked the country and the world.
Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie appeared in court in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa along with 94 co-defendants.
Journalists were removed from the courtroom shortly after the start of the hearing to enable a protected witness to take the stand.
Mackenzie, who was arrested in April last year, is alleged to have incited his acolytes to starve to death to “meet Jesus”.
He and his co-accused all pleaded not guilty to the charges of terrorism at a hearing in January.
They also face charges of murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, and child torture and cruelty in separate cases.

The remains of more than 440 people have been unearthed so far in a remote wilderness inland from the Indian Ocean coastal town of Malindi, in a case that has been dubbed the “Shakahola forest massacre”.
Autopsies have found that while starvation appeared to be the main cause of death, some of the victims – including children – were strangled, beaten, or suffocated.
Previous court documents also said that some of the bodies had had their organs removed.
Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, turned himself in on April 14 after police acting on a tip-off first entered Shakahola forest, where mass graves have been found.
In March, the authorities began releasing some victims’ bodies to distraught relatives after months of painstaking work to identify them using DNA.
Questions have been raised about how Mackenzie, a self-styled pastor with a history of extremism, managed to evade law enforcement despite his prominent profile and previous legal cases.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki last year accused Kenyan police of laxity in investigating the initial reports of starvation.
“The Shakahola massacre is the worst breach of security in the history of our country,” he told a senate committee hearing, vowing to “relentlessly push for legal reforms to tame rogue preachers”.
The state-backed Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) in March criticised security officers in Malindi for “gross abdication of duty and negligence”.
The horrific saga has seen President William Ruto vow to intervene in Kenya’s home-grown religious movements.
In largely Christian Kenya, it has also thrown a spotlight on failed efforts to regulate unscrupulous churches and cults that have dabbled in criminality.


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Kenya cult leader faces terrorism charges after 400 killed in ‘Shakahola forest massacre’

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie (left) is surrounded by Kenya Police Officers as he appears at the Shanzu Law Courts in Mombasa on January 18, 2024. Photo: AFP/File

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie (left) is accused of inciting cult followers to starve to death “to meet Jesus”. Photo: AFP

A mass-grave site is seen in Shakahola, outside the coastal town of Malindi, Kenya The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult went on trial on Monday on charges of terrorism over the deaths of more than 400 of his followers. Photo: AFP

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Kenya cult leader, who incited followers to starve to death to ‘meet Jesus’ charged with murdering 191 children

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie was charged with 191 counts of murder on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, who set up the Good News International Church in 2003 and is accused of inciting cult followers to starve to death “to meet Jesus”, appears in the dock with other co-accused at the court in Malindi on May 2, 2023. Photo: AFP

Kenyan cult leader told followers to starve themselves ahead of ‘world’s end’

Members of the Kenya Red Cross help an emaciated woman in Shakahola forest of Kilifi county, Kenya. Photo: Reuters

The morgue at the state-run Malindi Sub-County Hospital is already stretched well beyond capacity with dozens of bodies. Photo: Reuters

Stephen Mwiti, whose wife and six children joined the cult and are feared dead. Photo: Reuters

A mass gravesite in Shakahola, outside the coastal town of Malindi, Kenya. Photo: AFP

News

World

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie is alleged to have incited his acolytes to starve to death to ‘meet Jesus’


Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, who was arrested in April last year, is alleged to have incited his acolytes to starve to death to “meet Jesus”.


Religion

Cults

Terrorism