MOMBASA, October 2026 – The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has secured guilty verdicts against Paul Mackenzie and 28 co-accused persons in connection with the Shakahola killings that claimed 191 lives.
In a judgment delivered at the Mombasa High Court, Lady Justice Diana Kavedza convicted the 29 accused on 191 counts of murder linked to deaths that occurred between January 2021 and September 2023 in Shakahola village, Malindi Sub-County, Kilifi County.
According to the court, the deaths were the result of an organized structure where religious doctrine and a clear chain of command were used to impose and enforce extreme fasting on followers.
Justice Kavedza noted that Mackenzie’s followers were first mobilized through an existing religious and communication network, then instructed to move to Shakahola. Once settled, they were ordered to fast.
The court found that the fasting-to-death instructions were passed down by village elders, repeated in routine meetings, and enforced through an organized system. The fasting was carried out in stages, starting with children, while guards restricted movement and blocked escape attempts.
The judge also ruled that the Good News International Church, which Mackenzie founded in 2010, functioned as a cult. Evidence showed Mackenzie preached an impending apocalypse, rejected modern medicine and formal schooling, cut followers off from outside contact, and promoted fasting as the path to heaven.
Witnesses testified that children were restrained, deprived of food, and punished for trying to eat or flee. Some recounted watching their siblings and other minors suffer and die.
The prosecution called 123 witnesses, among them child survivors and former accomplices who turned witnesses. The case was further supported by digital recordings, social media posts, medical and forensic reports, DNA analysis, physical exhibits, personal journals of the deceased, and expert opinions.
Crime scene investigators recovered bodies from graves spread across several homesteads and mass burial sites, including one mass grave with 12 bodies and another location with 63 bodies in multiple graves.
Medical witness Dr Njoroge presented 190 postmortem reports for the minors who died. Of these, 76 deaths were attributed to starvation, 112 were listed as undetermined, one to head trauma, one to manual strangulation, and one to asphyxia linked to starvation.
The court was also told that burials were done at odd hours to avoid being noticed, and that the settlement had been subdivided into 12 villages to ease administration and enforcement of the fasting orders.
Those convicted include Mackenzie, his deputy Smart Deri Mwakalama, Stephen Sanga Muye and 26 others.
Two other accused, Kelvin Saudi Asena and Edison Safari Mnyambo, passed away during the trial, leading the DPP to withdraw murder charges against them.
The prosecution was led by DPP Renson Ingonga alongside Coast Regional Head Peter Kiprop, Jami Yamina, Victor Owiti, Ngina Mutua, Betty Rubia and Yassir Mohammed.
According to DPP, the verdict is considered a major milestone in one of Kenya’s most complex criminal cases, highlighting how combined witness testimony, forensic and medical evidence can establish criminal liability.
