200 years behind bars: Court finally closes the Mackenzie chapter on Shakahola killings

It is a long wait that has ended for many families in Kenya. The High Court in Mombasa has jailed self-styled pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie for 200 years for the deaths of 191 people in Shakahola, Kilifi County. The sentence was read out on Friday, November 6, 2026, by Lady Justice Diana Kavedza.

The court split the punishment into two parts. Mackenzie got 100 years for killing the children and another 100 years for killing the adult. The prosecution had pushed for the death penalty, but the judge chose not to give it. Of the 191 victims, 190 were children.

The judge said Mackenzie was the person who carried the biggest blame. As the head of Good News International Ministries and the man in charge of the Shakahola settlement, she said, he was the one who took his followers to the remote area and directed them to fast until death. The preacher had told them that starving themselves would help them meet Jesus.

Twenty-eight other people were in the dock with him. They were all found guilty on October 19, together with Mackenzie, after the court agreed that the prosecution had proved its case. The judge sentenced each of them according to the part they played and how deeply they were involved. Two of them were given an aggregate of 160 years each.

The story first shook the country in 2023, when bodies were dug up from shallow graves at Chakama Ranch in Kilifi. More than 400 bodies were recovered from the forest. Followers had lived in simple mud huts, far from neighbours and the eyes of the authorities. Some reports put the number of suspected victims at around 500.

Relatives of the dead have been waiting for this day for more than three years. Francis Wanje, who lost eight family members, said he was happy with the earlier guilty verdict after such a long wait for justice. However, some families still worry that the preacher may continue to have influence on his followers, even from prison.

The case has also left Kenyans asking serious questions. Many want to know how a man who had been arrested twice before was released, only for the tragedy to happen later. Calls for stricter rules for churches and other religious groups have grown louder since the bodies were found.

Mackenzie’s lawyer, Lawrence Obonyo, has said he has instructions to appeal the conviction. The preacher also still has other cases to answer in court.