Kenya starvation cult leader found guilty in murder of 190 children and 1 adult

Court delivers murder verdict

Mackenzie and his associates were found guilty on Monday of 191 murders. They had pleaded not guilty to the charges in 2024. Mackenzie arrived at Mombasa Law Courts with 29 other accused, handcuffed in pairs after stepping off a bus with barred windows. Relatives of victims also attended, traveling from rural communities along the coast.

Deaths at Shakahola Forest

Hundreds of bodies have been found since 2023 at the cult’s base inland from the beach resort of Malindi. The deaths became known as the Shakahola Forest Massacre.

Prosecutors said most of the children died from starvation, while others died from asphyxia, neck compression or traumatic head injury. Police uncovered hundreds of shallow graves, and excavations were paused when local morgues ran out of room.

Preaching and past arrests

Followers told relatives and officials they believed Mackenzie’s preaching that starvation was a route to salvation. He allegedly divided members into smaller groups with biblical names, which are believed to have died and been buried together.

Mackenzie was arrested in 2017 on radicalization charges and acquitted. He was arrested again in 2019 in connection with two child deaths at Shakahola, then released on bail; in January, he was charged over 52 other bodies found at a nearby village.

Calls for tighter oversight

Some surviving group members told family that Mackenzie’s predictions often came true, including a prediction of a great virus shortly before COVID-19 reached Kenya. During the pandemic, he preached about leaving life’s difficulties behind and turning to salvation.