Mombasa:Ouagadougou The High Court in Mombasa, Kenya, has sentenced preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for the murder of 191 people, including 190 children, found in the Shakahola forest in 2023. The pastor had urged his followers to fast until death to "meet Jesus" in anticipation of an imminent end of the world he predicted.

According to Agence d'Information du Burkina, the sentence was delivered by Judge Diana Kavedza Mochache, who also sentenced Mackenzie's 28 co-defendants to prison terms ranging from 10 to 160 years. Mackenzie's sentence includes 100 years for murders by starvation and another 100 years for direct homicides.

The prosecution had sought the death penalty, arguing the scale and circumstances of the crimes warranted the maximum punishment. However, the judge opted for a long prison sentence, considering execution might be seen by the convicts as a victory due to their beliefs.

Paul Mackenzie, the founder of the Good News International Church, was accused of promoting extreme fasting until death. Evidence showed 183 victims died of starvation, while eight were directly killed. On October 19, 2026, the court found Mackenzie and his co-defendants guilty on all 191 murder counts. The crimes occurred between January 2021 and September 2023 in the Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County.

The discovery of mass graves in April 2023 shocked Kenya and raised questions about religious movement controls. A total of 448 bodies were exhumed from the area, According to Kenyan National Human Rights Commission. The defense has announced plans to appeal the conviction.