ODPP urges court to impose death sentence on Paul Mackenzie over Shakahola tragedy

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has strongly urged the High Court in Mombasa to impose the death sentence on controversial preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie.

The heavy sentencing demand follows Mackenzie's conviction alongside 28 co-accused individuals for their roles in the deaths of 191 people 190 of whom were children in the horrific Shakahola Forest tragedy.

Making the sentencing submissions before High Court Judge Diana Kavedza, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Jami Yamina maintained that capital punishment remains the most appropriate consequence for Mackenzie.

Citing the catastrophic scale of the loss of life and the severe threat the actions posed to public security, the prosecution argued that the gravity of the offences demands the maximum penalty permitted under law.

“The prosecution supports the imposition of capital punishment for Mackenzie, subject to consideration of his mitigation, remorse, regret and prospects of rehabilitation,” Yamina submitted before the court.

The prosecution based its argument on Section 204 of the Penal Code alongside the Supreme Court’s Muruatetu jurisprudence, emphasizing that the sheer magnitude of the atrocities committed in Malindi Sub-County, Kilifi County, between January 2021 and September 2023 sets this case apart as uniquely heinous.

Investigators and court proceedings previously revealed that victims within the forest settlement were subjected to an organized system of extreme fasting, where religious teachings and a strict leadership hierarchy were weaponized to enforce compliance and prevent escape.

Beyond the principal architect of the Good News International Church, the ODPP pressed the court to hand down life imprisonment terms to the remaining 27 convicts.

The state argued that these co-accused individuals played active roles ranging from village elders and enforcers to cooks and grave diggers within the deadly network.

According to the prosecution, these individuals were heavily indoctrinated by Mackenzie and continue to pose a tangible risk of radicalization and reoffending.

Yamina noted that any sentencing framework must delicately balance the principles of retribution, general deterrence, public safety, denunciation of crime, restorative justice, and potential rehabilitation.

To ensure justice is fully served for each individual life lost, the ODPP proposed that if the court opts against a blanket life sentence, it should instead issue consecutive sentences.

Because each of the 191 deaths constitutes a distinct and independent count of murder, the state suggested grouping the victims into three specific age brackets infants up to seven years old, minors aged eight to 14, and adolescents aged 15 to 18 to meticulously guide the final sentencing structure.

A distinct exception was highlighted regarding Enos Amanya Ngala, who chose to plead guilty to all 191 counts of murder and was subsequently convicted on his own plea.

Taking the terms of a formal plea-bargaining agreement into account, the prosecution recommended a structured custodial rehabilitation program lasting between 24 and 30 months.

This proposal features periodic progress evaluations intended to inform a future sentence review, factoring in a proposed 11-year custodial baseline, time already spent in remand custody, and statutory remissions.

Additionally, the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) submitted a framework advising that the convicts engage in voluntary rehabilitation and counter-narrative sessions to aid future reintegration, should they survive their sentences.