MOMBASA, Kenya – A Kenyan court convicted preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and 28 co-defendants of 191 murders on October 19, 2026, in a case involving the deaths of 190 children and one adult at Shakahola Forest. The High Court found that the defendants were criminally responsible for an organized system of enforced fasting that led to the deaths. The verdict marks a major development in a case that exposed how followers of an isolated religious network were subjected to extreme teachings and restrictions.
The convictions cover only the 191 deaths addressed in this judgment. Authorities have recovered more than 400 bodies from the wider Shakahola investigation since 2023. Other deaths and separate criminal cases remain outside the scope of this verdict.
Who is Paul Mackenzie?
Mackenzie founded the Good News International Church in 2003. Before becoming a preacher, he worked as a taxi driver, according to Reuters reporting on his background.
His teachings included apocalyptic beliefs and opposition to formal education and modern medical treatment. He told followers that rejecting institutions such as schools and hospitals was part of their religious path. Court reporting described a belief system that encouraged members to withdraw from wider society.
The case concerns the actions of Mackenzie and people convicted alongside him. It should not be treated as representative of religious belief or religious communities generally. The criminal findings relate to specific conduct and an organized system that the court found led to the deaths.
Mackenzie’s activities had attracted official attention before the Shakahola deaths came to light. In 2017, police searched his compound in Malindi and found children living there without attending school, Reuters reported. Authorities brought proceedings related to his activities, and his church was shut down in 2019. He later moved his operations and followers to Shakahola Forest.
These earlier interventions have become central to questions about how the deaths could have been prevented. However, the existence of earlier warnings or official actions does not, by itself, establish criminal responsibility by individual officials.
How the fasting system operated
The court found that Mackenzie and his co-defendants participated in an organized system of religious radicalization and enforced fasting. The trial examined events that occurred between January 2021 and September 2023.
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According to reporting on the judgment, the system directed followers to fast in preparation for meeting Jesus and the anticipated end of the world. The court rejected the defence argument that the deaths resulted from voluntary fasting alone.
The prosecution called 120 witnesses during the trial, while the defence presented nine, according to Citizen Digital’s report of the verdict. The judge considered the evidence before finding all 29 defendants guilty.
Court reporting described a system in which fasting began with children. Guards were reportedly deployed to stop followers from escaping or eating. The court also heard evidence that children were isolated and denied food.
These findings distinguish the case from one involving only personal religious choice. The court concluded that the defendants’ criminal conduct went beyond preaching or encouraging a religious practice. It established that they participated in a system that caused the deaths covered by the charges.
Mackenzie denied forcing followers to starve. The court rejected his defence and convicted him and the 28 co-defendants.
Why children were especially vulnerable
Children accounted for 190 of the 191 deaths in the murder case. The court’s findings about the order in which fasting was imposed are therefore central to understanding the scale and character of the crimes.
Reports on the judgment said children were targeted first and that some were prevented from obtaining food or leaving. The restrictions placed them at particular risk because they depended on adults for care, protection and access to food and medical assistance.
The case also involved teachings that discouraged medical treatment and formal education. Those teachings could isolate children from institutions that might otherwise identify neglect or provide help.
The verdict does not mean that every person associated with the church or every family member was criminally responsible. The court convicted the 29 defendants before it after assessing the evidence against them. Responsibility in any separate case must be established through its own legal process.
The deaths also raise broader questions about safeguarding children when adults exercise strong control over their living conditions, access to food and contact with the outside world. Those questions should be addressed through evidence and law, without stigmatizing religious belief generally.
How the Shakahola deaths were discovered
The case came to wider public attention in April 2023, when authorities began investigating reports of missing people and deaths linked to Shakahola Forest in coastal Kilifi County.
Police and investigators discovered graves and began recovering bodies from the area. The operation expanded as additional graves were found, revealing the scale of the deaths connected to the site.
More than 400 bodies have been recovered from the wider investigation. The exact figures for identification and the status of individual cases require continued verification as investigations proceed.
The difference between that broader number and the 191 murder convictions is essential. The October 19 judgment addressed 191 deaths: 190 children and one adult. It did not resolve the circumstances of every person whose body was recovered.
The Standard reported on October 19 that 11 of the 191 victims had been identified, while 180 remained unidentified. The same report said only 26 of the more than 400 recovered bodies had been identified at that time. These are figures reported around the verdict and should not be treated as a current final accounting of all victims.
The wider investigation remains significant because the recovered bodies may relate to different alleged crimes, defendants and proceedings. Those cases must be tracked separately rather than combined with the 191 murder convictions.
What the court decided
The court found the prosecution had proved the murder case against all 29 defendants beyond reasonable doubt. The verdict followed a trial in which witnesses described the fasting system and the conditions imposed on followers.
The 191 counts concerned specific deaths, not a general finding about everyone who lived at Shakahola or belonged to Mackenzie’s church. The court’s decision established the criminal responsibility of the convicted defendants for the offences before it.
The distinction matters for both accountability and fairness. A conviction must rest on evidence and the legal requirements for the offence. Other people who may have been present, associated with the organization or connected to the site cannot be presumed guilty because of that association.
The case also demonstrates the importance of testimony from survivors and other witnesses. Some followers became prosecution witnesses, according to the Associated Press. Their evidence formed part of the broader trial record considered by the court.
Mackenzie’s denial that he forced followers to fast was part of the defence case. The court rejected that position when it delivered the verdict. The next legal stage concerns sentencing and any subsequent appeal, rather than whether the 29 defendants were convicted in this trial.
Why the wider death toll remains unresolved
The more than 400 bodies recovered from Shakahola represent a wider investigation than the 191 murder counts decided on October 19. The difference does not mean that the other deaths have been legally explained or that they are covered by the same convictions.
Mackenzie also faces separate proceedings connected to other alleged offences. Reuters reported that he and seven associates were charged in February 2026 in connection with 52 deaths found near Kwa Binzaro. Those allegations are separate from the Shakahola murder verdict and must not be described as convictions.
Other reported proceedings involve allegations related to terrorism, manslaughter and offences affecting children. Their current status must be verified individually. A charge is not a conviction, and the defendants retain the presumption of innocence in cases that have not concluded.
The wider death toll also presents practical challenges for investigators. Identifying victims, determining causes of death and linking evidence to specific offences can take time, particularly where remains are difficult to identify.
The murder verdict therefore represents a completed judicial decision on a defined set of charges, not the conclusion of every investigation arising from Shakahola.
Questions about the authorities
The tragedy has prompted scrutiny of how police, local officials and national institutions responded to earlier warnings about Mackenzie and his organization.
Reuters reported that the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights criticized failures in investigation and prosecution processes. The commission said Mackenzie’s earlier arrest should have prompted action that could have saved lives. President William Ruto has also acknowledged that government agencies should have been able to prevent the deaths.
Kenya’s Senate established an ad hoc committee in 2023 to investigate the deaths and examine the role of the Good News International Church, its leadership and the Kilifi County Security Committee. The committee’s report documented the scale of the tragedy and recommended action involving responsible individuals and public officers.
These findings and statements raise serious questions about oversight and enforcement. They are not, on their own, proof that any particular official committed a crime. Individual responsibility must be determined through the relevant investigations and legal proceedings.
The case has also intensified debate about oversight of religious organizations. Any regulatory response must address the risk of coercion, exploitation and abuse while respecting constitutional protections for religious freedom and freedom of association.
The central issue is not whether religious organizations should be treated as inherently dangerous. It is whether authorities have effective, lawful ways to respond when credible evidence points to abuse, unlawful confinement, neglect or threats to life.
What happens next?
The next major step is sentencing. The Associated Press reported that a mitigation hearing is scheduled for October 30, 2026, with sentencing set for November 6. The court timetable should be checked again before publication in case of a later change.
The sentencing stage will determine the penalties imposed on the 29 people convicted. Any appeal would be a separate legal development. The sources reviewed for this article did not establish that a formal appeal had been filed by October 20.
Related charges and investigations also remain important. They concern different alleged offences and, in some cases, different deaths. Their progress should be reported separately, with each defendant’s legal status clearly identified.
The authorities also face the continuing task of identifying recovered remains and establishing the circumstances of deaths not covered by the 191 murder counts. Those efforts are necessary for families seeking answers and for any further criminal proceedings.
The Shakahola verdict establishes criminal responsibility for 191 murders. It does not account for every death at the site or resolve every question about the failures that allowed the tragedy to unfold. The next stages of sentencing, further investigations and any appeals will determine how much more of the wider case can be established in court.
Reporting Credit: The Associated Press’s October 19, 2026, report on the murder convictions and sentencing timetable; Reuters’ October 19, 2026, reporting on Mackenzie’s background, earlier official interventions and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights’ findings; Citizen Digital’s October 19, 2026, report on the verdict and trial evidence; The Standard’s October 19, 2026, report on the 191 deaths and identification figures; and the Kenyan Senate’s 2023 ad hoc committee report on Shakahola.
