Kenya’s starvation cult leader goes on trial for manslaughter over mass deaths
- Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie is alleged to have incited over 400 of his followers to starve to death to ‘meet Jesus’
The leader of a Kenyan starvation sect went on trial on Monday for manslaughter over the deaths of more than 400 of his followers in one of the world’s worst cult-related tragedies.
Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and dozens of other suspects pleaded not guilty in January to multiple counts of manslaughter, one of several cases against them over what is known as the “Shakahola Forest Massacre”.
Mackenzie appeared in a magistrate’s court in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa along with more than 90 other suspects, prosecutors and court officials said.
“There has never been a manslaughter case like this in Kenya,” prosecutor Alexander Jami Yamina told AFP, adding that they will be charged under a Kenyan law dealing with suicide pacts.
“This is going to be a very unique manslaughter case.”
Mackenzie is alleged to have incited his followers to starve to death to “meet Jesus” in a case that provoked horror in Kenya and across the world.
