Kenya cult leader who told parents to starve children guilty of 191 murders

Fonte da imagem, AFP via Getty ImagesLegenda da imagem, os seguidores de Paul Mackenzie acreditavam que ele era “o porta-voz de Jesus”, disse o juiz.

1. Published19 October 2026, 04:44 BST.
2. I fear for my sons': Mother awaits DNA results on remains linked to Kenya's starvation cultPublished31 August 2025.
3. Kenya cult targeted children to starve first - pastor.
4. The mother who fled a death cult to save her children.

O que o líder do culto de fome do Quênia pregava.

O líder de um culto de fim dos tempos do Quênia, Paul Mackenzie, foi considerado culpado de matar 191 pessoas, todas, exceto uma, eram crianças.

Mackenzie ordenou que membros de seu culto deixassem seus filhos morrerem de fome para que pudessem 'encontrar Jesus.

Sua doutrina dizia que a educação era proibida e a medicina moderna era “má”.

Twenty-eight other leaders of his cult were also convicted of murder. They had all pleaded not guilty, repeatedly insisting that nobody was forced to die.

Warning: This article contains details which some people might find distressing.

Delivering her eight-hour judgement in the port city of Mombasa, Justice Diana Mochache said Mackenzie's followers believed he was "Jesus's mouthpiece.

One of his co-accused said Mackenzie had told his followers that anyone who "resisted the directive to fast must be forced to go to heaven through kicks and blows.

Os enterros dentro da floresta onde o culto estava baseado eram chamados de “weddings”. Aqueles que morreram “were celebrated as having wedded with Jesus”, disse o juiz.

One witness stated that a pregnant woman had been barred from nursing her new-born baby, who died 12 days later. "She was instructed to fast to death and follow her children," the witness said.

Mackenzie's former head of security, Enos Amanya Ngala, was initially accused but then entered a plea deal and became a witness for the prosecution.

Mackenzie and other leaders of the cult also face a raft of other legal cases, including for terrorism, radicalisation and denying education to children.

Mas esta é a primeira vez que o pastor enfrenta um veredicto nas acusações mais graves de assassinato. Ele deve ser condenado em 6 de novembro.

Ele foi preso em 2023, após a descoberta de mais de 400 corpos em sepulturas rasas na floresta Shakahola, perto da costa do Quênia, onde Mackenzie havia conduzido seus seguidores de todo o país.

Stephen Mwiti, 48, said he lost all six of his children to the cult. His former wife was one of those convicted of murder alongside Mackenzie.

I'm a happy man, that all persons have been convicted," he told the BBC from his home in the coastal town of Malindi, 70km (43 miles) from Shakahola.

All six of my children died in Shakahola forest," Mwiti said ahead of the verdict, visibly emotional holding a photograph of his family. "I only found and buried the remains of my son Samuel.

Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesImage caption, More than 400 bodies were dug up in Shakahola forest.

Todo túmulo que encontramos tinha pelo menos três corpos," disse James, um dos escavadores de túmulos, ao BBC. "Alguns dos restos eram de crianças com apenas algumas semanas de idade.

We once found 12 bodies of children in a line inside a grave. It was massive, the bodies were arranged like clothes. One on top of another.

Os escavadores de túmulos descreviam alguns dos corpos de crianças como tendo tido as 'mãos e pernas amarradas e corpos embrulhados em lençóis.

Although many of Mackenzie's followers were from elsewhere in Kenya, some of the remains are of people who were familiar to the community because the people in the cult would often go to nearby Shakahola town for supplies and to fetch water from the River Galana which flows through the town.

We would sometimes carry people on our motorbikes into the forest," said Salim Karisa, another gravedigger. "But it was so planned and secretive that nobody could tell what was happening inside.

Fonte da imagem, Mohamed Madi / BBCLegenda da imagem, Stephen Mwiti disse que estava feliz com o veredicto.

Mackenzie established Good News International Ministries in 2003. Over the next 16 years, the church grew in popularity to draw thousands of followers in the church's branches across Kenya.

Sua igreja operava uma estação de televisão chamada Times TV, que transmitia seus sermões da igreja em Malindi.

His End Days sermons included conspiracy theories that described education as "evil", healthcare as "against the doctrine" and digital identity cards as "the mark of the devil.

Mackenzie's son, Dan Paul Mackenzie, said he worked as a cameraperson in the church. "The children would sit at the back, adults in the middle, and everyone would sing worship songs all morning.

O pastor autoproclamado começaria seus sermões ardentes ao meio-dia, alguns dos quais incluíam “casting out demons”.

Image caption, This is the building from where Mackenzie broadcast his sermons.

A principal igreja fechou em 2019 e Paul Mackenzie mudou-se para a floresta Shakahola, encorajando seus devotos a segui-lo.

Peter Shukrani, 23, says his mother relocated to Shakahola with him at the time. He started going to Mackenzie's church when he was eight years old and described him as his "spiritual father", adding that he would "never say a bad word about him.

When in the forest, Shukrani fell ill and his condition deteriorated because medication was banned.

My mother would throw away all the medicine I was supposed to take because she believe that only God could heal me," Shukrani said.

The community was described as mud houses scattered across the vast forest. "We lived a quiet normal life, fasting for a few days then having a small meal," Shukrani said.

Em março de 2023, quando os primeiros restos foram descobertos por pastores locais, centenas de pessoas já haviam morrido. “Nós levaríamos alguém para fora da floresta, mas eles eram tão frágeis que morreriam em nossos braços,” explicou Salim Karisa, um dos escavadores de túmulos.

Shukrani was one of the men rescued from the forest.

He was ill and bed-ridden for weeks until that point, but his condition worsened because his mother would throw away all the medication he needed to recover.

My mother believed Pastor Mackenzie's doctrine that medicine was evil," Shukrani said.

Eu teria morrido se não fosse resgatado da floresta Shakahola.

Legenda da imagem: Peter Shukrani afirma que teria morrido se tivesse permanecido na floresta, mas ainda acredita que Mackenzie é um bom homem.

Many of the bodies are still unidentified owing to their advanced state of decomposition.

In the court documents, several are referred to as "unknown male child" and identified by the location of their grave and date of their discovery.

Apesar do sofrimento suportado pelos seguidores de Mackenzie, homens, mulheres e crianças que morreram por fome, estrangulamento e até mesmo por serem golpeados até a morte, bem como seu próprio sofrimento, Shukrani acredita que Mackenzie era 'uma boa pessoa que se importa comigo.

Mackenzie didn't force anyone to fast. People made those choices by themselves because of their beliefs," Shukrani said before the verdict was announced.

I still love him and he is still my pastor.

Em contraste, Dan Mackenzie acreditava que seu pai deveria ser considerado culpado de assassinato.

He was the leader, he was someone who they were looking [up to]. So he is a murderer of mass killing," also speaking before the verdict.

Mais sobre o culto no Quênia da BBC

Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.

Em números

• De um culto de fim dos tempos do Quênia, Paul Mackenzie, foi considerado culpado de matar 191 pessoas, todas, exceto uma, eram crianças
• Rsons have been convicted," he told the BBC from his home in the coastal town of Malindi, 70km (43 miles) from Shakahola