KILIFI, Kenya — The leader of a Kenyan cult accused of urging his followers to starve themselves to death is set to face fresh charges over the deaths of a further 52 people at a separate village, prosecutors have said.
Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie was arrested in 2023 after 429 bodies, including many children, were exhumed from mass graves in the remote Shakahola forest in Kilifi County, one of the most disturbing episodes in Kenya’s recent history.
Mackenzie has remained in custody since his arrest and now faces new allegations that he continued to orchestrate deaths while behind bars. Prosecutors say he lured the latest victims to a remote homestead by issuing written instructions from his prison cell.
In a statement posted on X on Monday, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said it had received approval to “formally charge Good News International Church leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and his co-accused over the deaths of 52 people at the Binzaro homestead in Kilifi County”.
According to prosecutors, Mackenzie was “reasonably suspected to have masterminded” the incidents, using “radical teachings and coordinated structures to lure victims” to the village. Investigators said they recovered handwritten notes from prison cells occupied by Mackenzie, allegedly outlining transactions carried out through mobile phones.
Mackenzie has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of manslaughter linked to the Shakahola forest deaths. Over the newly cited killings, he and several co-accused are expected to face charges including radicalisation, “facilitation of terrorist acts”, and murder, in addition to the earlier counts tied to the mass graves.
The latest charges stem from discoveries made last year at the Binzaro homestead, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Shakahola along Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast. Investigators recovered around 34 bodies and more than 100 body parts from the site, prompting prosecutors to expand the scope of the case.
The developments follow a guilty plea entered two weeks ago by one of Mackenzie’s co-accused, Enos Amanya Ngala, the former head of security at Shakahola. Ngala admitted to charges related to the deaths of 191 children found in the original mass graves.
Survivors have described a rigid and brutal hierarchy imposed within the sect. They say children were ordered to starve first, followed by unmarried adults, women, men and finally church leaders, under instructions allegedly issued by Mackenzie.
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Mackenzie founded the Good News International Church in 2003, though he claimed to have closed it in 2019. He encouraged followers to relocate to the Shakahola forest to prepare for the end of the world and to “meet Jesus”.
He also preached that formal education was satanic and exploitative. Mackenzie was arrested in both 2017 and 2018 for encouraging parents to keep children out of school, insisting that education was “not recognised in the Bible.”
The scale of the Shakahola deaths has triggered widespread criticism of Kenyan authorities, with human rights groups and civil society organisations accusing regulators and security agencies of failing to act on earlier warnings.
The government has since pledged tighter oversight of religious organisations, but the case continues to expose gaps in enforcement and protection for vulnerable communities.
