Kenya cult leader who told parents to starve children guilty of 191 murders
Kenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie has been convicted of murdering 191 people, primarily children, after ordering his followers to starve themselves to 'meet Jesus'. This verdict follows the discovery of hundreds of bodies in the Shakahola forest in 2023.
Why it matters
The case is a landmark legal proceeding regarding religious extremism and the mass exploitation of vulnerable individuals.
Image source, AFP via Getty Images Image caption, Paul Mackenzie's followers believed he was "Jesus's mouthpiece", the judge said
The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult, Paul Mackenzie, has been found guilty of murdering 191 people, all but one of them children.
Mackenzie ordered members of his cult to starve their children to death so they could "meet Jesus".
His doctrine said that education was forbidden and modern medicine was "evil".
Twenty-eight other leaders of his cult were also convicted of murder. They had all pleaded not guilty, repeatedly insisting that nobody was forced to die.
Warning: This article contains details which some people might find distressing.
Delivering her eight-hour judgement in the port city of Mombasa, Justice Diana Mochache said Mackenzie's followers believed he was "Jesus's mouthpiece".
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