Paul Mackenzie found guilty of murdering 191 people in Kenyan cult case
A Kenyan court has convicted Paul Mackenzie and 28 others of murder over the starvation deaths of 191 people, all but one of them children, in Shakahola forest.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The verdict
A Kenyan court has found Paul Mackenzie and 28 others guilty of murder over the deaths of 191 people, all but one of them children, in a case that has shocked the country and drawn international attention.
The verdict follows years of investigation into the Good News International Ministries and the deaths in Shakahola forest near Kenya's coast. More than 400 bodies have been recovered from shallow graves after Mackenzie was arrested in 2023. The court heard that followers were told to starve themselves and their children so they could meet Jesus before the world ended.
What the court heard
During a lengthy reading from a 500-page ruling, the judge described Mackenzie's community as hyper-authoritarian. The court heard that funerals were referred to as weddings and that those who were buried were hailed as heroes who had been 'wedded with Jesus'. The judge said about 110 bodies remain unidentified, but the court was there to protect life and not names.
Prosecutors said Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, built a powerful ministry and ran Times TV, which broadcast his sermons. He founded Good News International Ministries in 2003. His teachings described education as demonic and modern medicine as evil. He also spread conspiracy theories, including claims that digital identity cards were the mark of the devil. Followers were instructed that children had to die first, then women, then men. Some victims were tied to trees with wires and ropes before they died.
The defence
Mackenzie had pleaded not guilty and repeatedly denied forcing anyone to die. His lawyers argued that he did not make people starve. He also faced other legal cases, including charges related to terrorism, radicalisation and denying children an education.
The human cost
Families and survivors have spoken of their loss. One man, Stephen Witte, lived in a small room with his five children and pregnant wife before she took the children to Shakahola. She survived, but he received only the remains of his seven-year-old son Samuel. Another survivor, Salama, said she lost eight members of her family. A 23-year-old survivor, Peter Shukrani, said he still loved Mackenzie and still thought of him as his pastor.
Mackenzie and his followers are due to be sentenced in Mombasa next month. Families hope the verdict will bring some measure of closure, though some say no sentence will be long enough to erase their pain.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Widely reported · 3 or more of 4 channels | ||||
| A judge reported that 429 bodies had been found. | Reported by BBC One | |||
| Mackenzie was found guilty of murdering 191 people, 190 of them children. | ||||
| Mackenzie denied forcing anyone to die, and his defense said he did not make people starve. | Reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | Reported by Sky News | |
| Reported by a few · 2 channels | ||||
| A verdict was still awaited, with the Mombasa courtroom on a break while the judge read from a 500-page ruling. | Reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | |
| The court was told that some victims were bound to trees using wires and ropes. | Reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | |
| The judge described the commune as hyper-authoritarian and said funerals were referred to as weddings, with the dead described as married to Jesus. | Reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Only on one channel | ||||
| A survivor said she lost eight members of her family. | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Before leading the sect, Mackenzie worked as a taxi driver. | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Mackenzie and his followers are due to be sentenced in Mombasa next month. | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Mackenzie founded Good News International Ministries in 2003; it grew over 16 years, drew thousands of followers and ran Times TV. | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | |
| Mackenzie is accused of murdering 191 people, including 190 children. | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Mackenzie's followers were instructed that children should die first, followed by women and then men. | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by Sky News | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
BBC News Now stayed with the court process as the judge read a long ruling, repeatedly stressing that a verdict had not yet been delivered. It focused on the judge's description of a hyper-authoritarian community and on graphic details of how victims died, while also giving space to the defence case. The channel used a long background report and a live interview to explain the scale of the deaths and the difficulty of identifying victims.
- “the judge particularly has been talking for almost five hours now”
- “which she's described as a hyper-authoritarian community. Weddings were the words that were used to describe funerals.”
- “some of them even tied to trees with wires and ropes”
Sky News led with the guilty verdict as breaking news and kept the report tight and factual. It emphasised the number of child victims, the ban on education and modern medicine, and the history of Mackenzie's church and television station. It did not carry the longer survivor testimony seen elsewhere.
- “has been found guilty of the murders of a hundred and ninety-one People”
- “all of them apart from one were children”
- “his doctrine said that education was forbidden and that modern medicine was considered evil”
Channel 4 News framed the verdict around the 28 co-defendants and the human cost, with a warning about disturbing details. Its report drew on earlier documentary work and gave prominence to a survivor who lost eight family members. It also placed the case in a wider context of faith and fanaticism in Kenya.
- “the leader of a Kenyan cult and 28 others have been found guilty of murder”
- “I lost eight members of my family.”
- “The actions here blurred the line between fanaticism and faith.”
BBC ONE West delivered a conventional verdict report with a detailed background package from the coast. It stressed the sentencing date in Mombasa and the order in which followers were told to die. The report gave space to a bereaved father and a survivor who still supports Mackenzie, while noting that no sentence could erase the families' pain.
- “has been found guilty of murdering 191 people all but one of the victims were children”
- “Mackenzie and his followers will be sentenced in Mombasa next month”
- “no sentence will be long enough to erase their pain”
Who was on air
People and organisations each channel put on air while covering this story. Channels' own presenters and reporters are not listed. Names as transcribed, and the list can miss people.
- 12:20 BST
Peter Shukrani, 23-year-old
BBC News Now · Mon 19 Oct
- 22:21 BST
- 22:22 BST
Peter Shukrani, 23 year old
BBC News and Weather · Mon 19 Oct
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.