Kenyan cult leader faces verdict over 191 starvation deaths

A Mombasa court will deliver a long-awaited verdict on Monday in the trial of a self-proclaimed Kenyan preacher and his associates, accused of murdering 191 people, mostly children, in an infamous starvation cult.
Hundreds of bodies have been discovered since 2023 at the cult base inland from the Kenyan beach resort of Malindi, in what became known as the “Shakahola Forest Massacre”.
Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie is alleged to have incited his acolytes to starve to death in order to “meet Jesus”.
Mackenzie and his associates pleaded not guilty to 191 counts of murder in 2024. He has also denied charges of manslaughter and terrorism in separate cases.
In the three years sin...