Kenya court set to rule in Mackenzie cult murder case over deaths of 191 children

A Kenyan court is set to deliver its judgement in the mass murder trial of doomsday preacher Paul Mackenzie and 29 of his followers, who are charged with the murder of 191 children.

The case centres on allegations that children linked to Mackenzie's group were forced to starve to death so they could meet Jesus. Prosecutors describe Mackenzie's teaching as banning formal education and calling modern medicine evil, according to BBC.

Mackenzie and the 29 co-accused have all pleaded not guilty to murder. A former head of security for Mackenzie, Enos Amanya Ngala, was initially accused alongside them but entered a plea deal and became a prosecution witness.

The charges follow the discovery of mass graves in Shakahola forest near the Kenyan coast, where Mackenzie had gathered his followers. Authorities said more than 400 bodies were found in shallow graves there, according to BBC. Seventeen men from a nearby town were hired to exhume the remains, with some paid $8 per day.

Mackenzie established Good News International Ministries in 2003. The church later ran Times TV, which broadcast his sermons from the coastal town of Malindi, before the main church closed in 2019 and he moved to Shakahola forest.

Mackenzie was arrested in 2023, according to BBC. He and other leaders face separate cases involving accusations of terrorism, radicalisation and denying children education. In January 2024, Mackenzie and 94 others were charged with terrorism-related crimes connected to the deaths of 429 people, according to Reuters. In February 2026, he and seven others faced new charges over the deaths of 52 people linked to the group, according to Reuters. The ruling expected from the court is the first verdict on the murder charges, described as the most serious against him.