Shakahola Massacre Ruling: Paul Mackenzie and 28 Co-Accused Found Guilty of 191 Murders

In a landmark and deeply emotional ruling delivered at the Mombasa High Court, Lady Justice Diana Kavedza Mochache delivered the long-awaited verdict in the high-profile Shakahola massacre trial.

Self-proclaimed preacher Paul Mackenzie and 28 co-accused individuals faced the full force of the law as the judiciary handed down convictions for the mass murder of 191 victims, comprising 190 children and one adult.

The comprehensive criminal trial, built on evidence from 123 prosecution witnesses against nine defence witnesses, marks a huge milestone in Kenyan legal history, bringing closure to one of the darkest chapters in the nation's collective memory.

During the court proceedings, the prosecution presented an overwhelming body of evidence, including post-mortem reports, expert testimony, and accounts from survivors and investigating officers.

The defence had consistently argued that the 190 victims, all minors below the age of 16, had voluntarily chosen to fast to death in anticipation of the end of the world.

Lady Justice Diana Kavedza decisively dismantled this argument, upholding the weight of the state's case. Delivering the historic ruling, she stated: “I am satisfied that the prosecution has proved the case against all the 29 accused persons for the murder of 190 children and one adult, contrary to section 203 of the penal code.

“I reject the defence by the accused persons that the victims, who were all below the age of 16 years, voluntarily fasted to death. I accordingly find all 29 accused guilty as charged and convict each accused person individually and collectively under section 322 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Paul McKenzie convicted of all 191 counts of murder.”

With this ruling, Paul Mackenzie was formally found guilty on all 191 counts of murder under sections 203 and 204 of the Penal Code, cementing his accountability for orchestrating the mass tragedy.

The criminal proceedings stemmed from the grim discoveries made in March 2023, when authorities began unearthing more than 400 corpses buried in shallow mass graves hidden deep within the dense Shakahola forest in Kilifi County.

Cult members had relocated to the isolated woodland commune after Mackenzie closed his urban church, Good News International Ministries, in 2019.

Inside the compound, daily routines were governed by radical and fatal doctrines. Mackenzie strictly banned formal education, condemned modern healthcare as demonic, and commanded followers to fast extensively to "meet Jesus" before the end of the world.

Excavators and rescue workers uncovered harrowing scenes during the exhumation process, discovering multiple bodies per grave, including infants only weeks old.

In one tragic instance, 12 children's bodies were found wrapped in bedsheets with their limbs bound, lined up together in a single trench.

The fallout from the commune's collapse has left deep, generational scars across communities in Malindi and beyond. Many families were torn apart after falling prey to televised broadcasts from Mackenzie's ministry, which warned against digital identity cards and modern medicine while imposing severe lifestyle restrictions.

While former followers like Shukrani, who narrowly survived after enduring weeks of starvation and having his prescribed medicine thrown away by his devoted mother, maintained complex loyalties to the preacher, the overwhelming weight of public grief pointed toward justice.

Relatives who lost entire households, such as parents whose children perished under the guise of religious salvation, finally found a measure of closure as the judiciary affirmed criminal culpability for the horrific loss of young lives.

The ruling by Lady Justice Diana Kavedza represents the first formal murder verdict against Mackenzie, though he faces several additional indictments relating to terrorism, radicalisation, and denying children access to schooling.