Horror in Kenya: Death Cult Leader Charged After Hundreds of Bodies Discovered in Forest
The self-proclaimed pastor and dozens of alleged accomplices face charges in connection with the deaths of more than 200 people, most of whom starved to death with the alleged intention of "finding Jesus."
Paul Nthenge Mackenzie (center) urged his followers to starve to “find Jesus” -Photo Reproduction/AFP/Getty Images
A court in Kenya formalized this Tuesday (23) the accusations against a cult leader, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, e dozens of alleged accomplices in manslaughter, related to the deaths of more than 200 people. Mackenzie, a self-proclaimed pastor, and 94 other suspects, including his wife, have maintained their innocence in relation to 238 counts of manslaughter, as indicated by court documents reviewed by AFP. Furthermore, last week, Mackenzie was also accused of terrorism. It is alleged that he instigated his followers to starve to death, with the intention of "finding Jesus" in an incident that sparked global outrage.
Judgment
Mackenzie was detained in April last year, after the discovery of bodies in the Shakahola forest, close to the Indian Ocean. The Autopsies revealed that most of the 429 victims died of starvation, while others, including children, were apparently victims of strangulation, beating or suffocation. Court documents state that the 238 victims mentioned during the hearing that took place this Tuesday were murdered between January 2021 and September 2023 in Shakahola.
The sect leader pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges at a previous hearing held last week in the port city of Mombasa. Now, he is scheduled to undergo a mental health assessment, in order to determine his fitness to stand trial for murder in an additional court in the coastal city of Malindi.
Death Cult
According to authorities, the victims were members of the international church Good News, led by Mackenzie, who is being accused of ordering his followers deprived themselves of food, leading to the death of themselves and their children, in the belief that this way they would ascend to heaven before the supposed end of the world. The case came to light after 19 bodies were discovered and exhumed from mass graves in Shakahola forest, located in southeastern Kenya, where the self-styled pastor and his followers resided.
At the time, a regional authority, Rhoda Onyancha, reported that more than 600 people were missing. To date, 429 bodies have been located, revealing the grim reality of what became known as the "Shakahola Forest Massacre".
Site of a mass grave in Shakahola, on the outskirts of the coastal town of Malindi, after the bodies were exhumed.Photo Reproduction/Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty
Control Over Religious Groups
The massacre that occurred in the Shakahola forest led the government to highlight the urgency of implementing stricter control over groups considered marginal. Questions arose about how Mackenzie managed to evade law enforcement, even with a history of extremism and previous lawsuits. In October, a Senate commission of inquiry revealed that Mackenzie had faced charges in 2017 due to his extremist preaching. However, it was highlighted that the criminal justice system failed to stop Mackenzie's reprehensible activities in Shakahola.
In the same year, the sect leader was acquitted of charges of radicalization, related to the illegal provision of school education. His defense rejected the formal educational system, claiming that it did not conform to Biblical principles. Kenya, being predominantly Christian, faces challenges in regulating rogue churches and cults involved in criminal activities. In 2019, he also faced charges linked to the deaths of two children, allegedly victims of starvation, suffocation and subsequent burial in a shallow grave in the Shakahola forest.
There are more than 4,000 registered churches in this East African nation, which has a population of 53 million, according to government information.
