Kenyan cult leader gets 200 years for starving 190 children to death

A Kenyan court has sentenced cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie to a total of 200 years in prison over the deaths of church members, including 190 children allegedly starved to death on his instructions in the belief that they would meet Jesus, Reuters reported.The sentence relates to the 2023 Shakahola massacre, in which authorities recovered 429 bodies from a forest in coastal Kenya.Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, a self-proclaimed pastor and founder of the Good News International Church, allegedly convinced his followers that the world was approaching its end and that starving themselves would allow them to meet Jesus before the apocalypse.According to the prosecution, Mackenzie and his associates organised an extreme fasting programme in Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County, coastal Kenya. Followers were instructed to stop eating and drinking, with children allegedly made to fast first, followed by women and men.Investigators found evidence of coercion and violence within the settlement.