Kenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie has been sentenced to 200 years in prison over the deaths of 191 people, including 190 children, in Shakahola

A Kenyan court has sentenced doomsday cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for his role in the deaths of 191 people, including 190 children, after directing followers to starve themselves in the belief that they would meet Jesus.

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Mackenzie was convicted in October alongside 28 co-defendants over the killings linked to his religious group in Shakahola forest, near Kenya’s coast.

Delivering the sentence on Friday, Justice Diana Mochache said Mackenzie bore the “primary criminal culpability” for directing followers to undertake deadly fasting practices.

The court sentenced him to 100 years for homicide and another 100 years for offences relating to starvation.

Although the sentences within each category will run concurrently, the two categories will run consecutively, bringing his total prison term to 200 years.

According to the BBC, the judge described the killings as “cold and calculated”, adding that the punishment was intended to send an unmistakable message that such atrocities attracted the maximum penalties permitted by law.

Mackenzie’s 28 co-defendants, including guards who enforced the fasting orders and gravediggers who helped conceal victims’ bodies, received prison sentences of up to 160 years.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, but Justice Mochache declined to impose capital punishment, saying it would remove the possibility of rehabilitation.

Mackenzie was arrested in 2023 after authorities discovered hundreds of bodies buried in shallow graves in Shakahola forest. More than 400 bodies have since been exhumed from the area.

Investigations found that many victims died from starvation, while others suffered suffocation, strangulation or head injuries.

Mackenzie founded Good News International Ministries in 2003 and became known for sermons in which he portrayed education and healthcare as evil.

He later moved to Shakahola forest, where he encouraged his followers to join him.

The cult leader and his co-defendants denied the allegations, insisting that nobody was forced to die.

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Mackenzie also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism charges, which he denies.