A Kenyan court has charged self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie and seven others over the deaths of at least 52 people in Kilifi County. Prosecutors say the bodies were discovered in shallow graves in the Kwa Binzaro area of Chakama in southeast Kenya. The charges were announced on Wednesday by Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
According to prosecutors, the defendants face counts of organised criminal activity, two counts of radicalisation and two counts of facilitating the commission of a terrorist act. They are accused of promoting an extreme belief system, preaching against government authority and facilitating acts linked to terrorism. All eight defendants pleaded not guilty. The next court hearing is scheduled for March the 4th.
Mackenzie, who leads the Good News International Church, is already facing separate charges including murder and terrorism in connection with deaths in Shakahola Forest. Prosecutors say more than 400 bodies were recovered there by 2025, two years after investigations began, in what has been described as one of the world’s largest cult-related disasters in recent history.
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Autopsies found that most victims died of starvation, while others, including children, showed signs of strangulation, beating or suffocation. Prosecutors allege Mackenzie organised and directed followers to starve themselves and their children in order to reach heaven before the end of the world. He denies the accusations and has remained in custody since his arrest in 2023.
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