Kenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie convicted of 191 murders

UPDATE - follow-up to Kenya cult leader who told parents to starve children guilty of 191 murders: Kenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 29 other leaders have been found guilty of murdering 191 people, with all but one of the victims being children. Justice Diana Mochache delivered an eight-hour judgement stating that followers believed Mackenzie was Jesus's mouthpiece and ordered them to starve their children to death to meet Jesus. The cult's doctrine banned education and called modern medicine evil, while burials in the Shakahola forest were called weddings to celebrate wedded life with Jesus. Seventeen local men were hired to dig up shallow graves containing multiple bodies, some paid about $8 a day, while Mackenzie faces sentencing on 6 November alongside pending charges for terrorism and radicalisation.

Context

Doomsday cults often isolate followers in remote areas like forests to cut off outside contact and enforce extreme doctrines. Authorities discovered hundreds of bodies in the Shakahola forest in 2023 after launching investigations into the group's activities.