Paul Mackenzie, the controversial Kenyan cult leader and self-acclaimed Pastor linked to the horrific Shakahola Forest tragedy, has been found guilty of murdering 191 people, all but one of them children, after allegedly directing his followers to starve themselves and their children in a bid to “meet Jesus.”
Twenty-eight other cult leaders were also convicted in connection with the case, which has sent shockwaves across Kenya and beyond.
Delivering her remarks, Justice Diana Mochache said Mackenzie’s followers believed he was “Jesus’s mouthpiece,” highlighting the level of influence he reportedly had over his followers.
The court heard disturbing accounts of how those who refused to obey the fasting instructions were allegedly treated. One of Mackenzie’s co-accused reportedly said that anyone who resisted the directive was to be forced to “go to heaven through kicks and blows.”
In one particularly heartbreaking account, a pregnant woman was allegedly prevented from Bosom feeding her newborn baby, who died just 12 days later. According to a witness, the woman was instructed to continue fasting until death so she could follow her children.
The shocking revelations are part of the wider Shakahola Forest tragedy, which came to light following Mackenzie’s arrest in 2023. More than 400 bodies have since been recovered from the forest, exposing the devastating scale of the alleged cult activities.
For families who lost loved ones, the convictions have brought a measure of relief, even as the pain of their losses remains.
Stephen Mwiti, who lost all six of his children in the tragedy, expressed relief at the outcome of the case.
“I’m a happy man, that all persons have been convicted,” he said.
However, his joy was overshadowed by the devastating loss of his children. Mwiti revealed that he only managed to recover and bury the remains of his son, Samuel.
The accounts of those involved in recovering the bodies have also painted a horrifying picture of what happened inside the forest.
James, one of the gravediggers who helped recover the remains, told the BBC that many graves contained multiple bodies, including those of very young children.
“Every grave we found had at least three bodies. Some of the remains were of children as young as a few weeks old,” he said.
He recalled one particularly disturbing discovery involving 12 children buried together in a single grave, with their bodies stacked on top of one another.
Another gravedigger, Salim Karisa, said people were sometimes transported into the forest on motorbikes, while the secrecy surrounding the activities made it difficult for outsiders to understand what was happening.
Survivors have also shared painful accounts of how Mackenzie’s teachings affected their lives.
Peter Shukrani said his mother stopped him from taking medication because she believed in Mackenzie’s teaching that medicine was evil.
“My mother believed Pastor Mackenzie’s doctrine that medicine was evil,” he said, adding that he believes he would have died had he not been rescued from the forest.
Despite his traumatic experience, Shukrani maintained that Mackenzie did not force people to fast, arguing that some followers made the decision themselves because of their religious beliefs. He also said he still loved Mackenzie and continued to regard him as his pastor.
In a striking admission, Mackenzie’s own son, Dan Paul Mackenzie, acknowledged his father’s position of authority over the followers and described him as responsible for mass murder.
“He was the leader, he was someone who they were looking up to. So he is a murderer of mass killing,” he said.
The Shakahola tragedy remains one of Kenya’s most disturbing cases involving religious extremism and alleged abuse of spiritual authority. Beyond the convictions, the case has raised serious questions about how such activities continued undetected and what more can be done to protect vulnerable people from dangerous religious teachings.
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