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World

Kenyan court sentences doomsday cult leader to 200 years for 191 murders

Mackenzie's defense lawyer says he has already launched an appeal, and the judge declined to impose the death penalty prosecutors sought.

11 news outlets reported this
Liberal6 outletsthe sentence, the judge's words and the victims' familiesCenter3 outletsa 200-year term, no death penalty, unanswered scaleConservative2 outletsdefense appeal and a father's death penalty call
Published 4 min read
Overview

A court in Mombasa, Kenya, sentenced Pastor Paul Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, to 200 years in prison on Friday. He was convicted of murdering 191 people, all but one of them children, after he ordered his followers to fast to death so they would meet Jesus. Starvation caused most of the deaths, and the court classed the others as direct homicide.

Mackenzie was tried with 28 followers, including guards who enforced the fasting orders and gravediggers who helped hide the bodies. The court found them all guilty on Oct. 19. The judge said Mackenzie bore "primary criminal culpability" and called the killings "cold and calculated."

Prosecutors had argued for the death penalty, but the judge declined to impose it. Assistant pastor Smart Mwakalama and the other accomplices received various prison terms. More than 400 bodies were exhumed from shallow graves in 2023, while the convictions cover 191 victims.

Mackenzie also faces terrorism charges. He had denied the murder charges. Defense lawyer Lawrence Obonyo told the Associated Press he had already launched an appeal.

Key figures
  • 200 years Mackenzie's prison sentence — BBC News
  • 191 people murder victims in the convictions — New York Post
  • 183 counts murder by starvation, with eight counts of direct homicide — Deutsche Welle
  • 160 years sentence for assistant pastor Smart Mwakalama — New York Post
  • more than 400 bodies exhumed from shallow graves in 2023 — New York Post

Three sides of the story

Liberal6 outlets

the sentence, the judge's words and the victims' families

CBS News runs a wire report headed "Doomsday cult leader learns fate for murders of 190 children" and opens with the 200-year sentence from the High Court in Mombasa. It quotes Justice Diana Kavedza on Mackenzie's "primary criminal culpability." It also gives the account of Francis Wanje, a teacher who lost two grandchildren.

Wanje told AFP "Nothing can ease the pain" and blamed the authorities for not acting sooner. Yahoo News carries the BBC's report, headed that the cult leader was "jailed for 200 years." That report names the judge as Diana Mochache, quotes her on sending "an unmistakable message," and says she declined the death penalty prosecutors sought.

Al Jazeera English calls him a "starvation cult leader," describes him smiling as he entered a tent outside the court, and sets the toll beside the Jonestown massacre and a Ugandan cult killing. It also notes calls for tougher regulation of religious groups. NPR headlines the 200-year sentence and says the convictions cover 190 children and one adult, with followers told to starve so they could meet Jesus.

Center3 outlets

a 200-year term, no death penalty, unanswered scale

BBC News headlines the sentence as a "life sentence for murdering 191 people" and opens with the 200 years given to the cult leader for murders of 191 people, all but one of them children. It quotes the judge, named as Diana Mochache, saying the sentence sends "an unmistakable message," and explains how the 100-year terms run. It says she declined the death penalty and cites 1987 as the last execution in Kenya.

It closes on the gap between the 191 convictions and the more than 400 bodies exhumed. It also quotes Francis Wanje, who says police did not act quickly. Newsweek's short, developing report says Mackenzie was sentenced to life, that all but one of the 191 victims were children, and that he "avoided being given the death penalty."

Deutsche Welle puts the sentence at the "culmination" of the trial and gives Justice Diana Kavedza's split of 183 starvation counts and eight direct homicide counts. It notes Kenya has not executed anyone since 1987.

Conservative2 outlets

defense appeal and a father's death penalty call

The New York Post runs the Associated Press report, headlined as a cult "linked to over 400 deaths" whose leader got 200 years. It opens with the sentence for 191 murders and adds that Mackenzie still faces terrorism and manslaughter charges tied to more than 200 further victims. It quotes Justice Diana Kavedza on his "primary criminal culpability."

It reports that all convicted have 14 days to file an appeal. Defense lawyer Lawrence Obonyo says he has already launched one and calls the ruling "circling around the constitution to give a sentence that is unattainable." The report also quotes Suleiman Ziro, a father of seven who lost six children and his wife.

He says the sentence was not enough and calls for the death penalty. The Washington Times reports the 200-year sentence for the murders of 191 people in a cult linked to the deaths of more than 400.

Where outlets disagree
  • Name of the judge who delivered the sentence
All sources: 11 articles from 11 outlets

Liberal (6)

Center (3)

Conservative (2)