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By Talkafrica Correspondent
Mombasa –Self-proclaimed preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie was brought to the Mombasa High Court today to learn his fate in the Shakahola starvation cult trial. The case is one of the most harrowing in Kenya’s history. This is a developing story. At the time of writing, no verdict had been reported.
Mackenzie was driven to court on a heavily fortified prison bus, flanked by police officers and prison warders. His wife and 29 other co-accused also arrived at the High Court ahead of the judgment. Relatives of the victims were expected to attend, many travelling from rural communities along the coast.
Lady Justice Diana Kavedza is delivering the judgment in Case No. E003 of 2024. The 191 murder counts relate to the deaths of 11 identified children and 180 unidentified children. The alleged offences span January 2021 to September 2023. The judgment was originally due on October 16 but was moved to today. Mackenzie and his co-accused pleaded not guilty when the case opened in 2024.
The case against the accused
On April 15, 2026, Justice Kavedza found that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against all the accused on all counts. The state had called 121 witnesses, including survivors, expert witnesses and investigating officers, and produced exhibits such as postmortem reports and government analyst findings. Some witnesses described the accused as village elders, guards, grave diggers and cooks within the settlement.
Prosecutors argue the accused acted together under a common plan that led to the deaths. The defence counters that the case rests largely on circumstantial evidence, hearsay and inconclusive forensic findings.
Earlier in the trial, Enos Amanya, also known as Hallelujah, pleaded guilty before the High Court in Mombasa, becoming the first of 29 defendants to confess. Prosecutors said he served as a grave digger and provided security in the forest. Justice Kavedza convicted him on his own plea.
What happened at Shakahola
Prosecutors say Mackenzie’s Good News International Church ran a cult in which followers were ordered to starve themselves and their children to death to go to heaven before the world ended. Court testimony indicated he taught that formal education was demonic and modern medicine was a tool of the devil. The prosecution also said dissenters were beaten to death.
The scale of the tragedy is still debated:
- The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights documented 448 deaths in its March 2024 report and said more than 600 people were reported missing.
- The commission said fewer than 10 per cent of the bodies had been identified and handed over to families.
- Autopsies showed that most of the dead had died of hunger.
- The trial heard evidence about events on a 325-hectare ranch in Shakahola Forest. Other outlets give the size as 800 acres.
This judgment is only one of several proceedings. Mackenzie faces separate manslaughter and terrorism cases, in which he has denied wrongdoing. He was also charged over 52 more deaths linked to bodies found at Kwa Binzaro, about 30 km from Shakahola.
Mackenzie was first arrested in 2017 on charges of radicalisation and acquitted. He was arrested again in 2019 after two children died of starvation. He was arrested in April 2023 after some followers were rescued following a report by a human rights organisation. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights criticised state agencies for failing to act on earlier warnings. The case has also fuelled public calls for tougher regulation of religious organisations.
