The leader of a religious cult has been charged in Kenya over the deaths of 191 people after he urged them to fast until death to “meet Jesus.”
Paul Mackenzie is a Protestant pastor who convinced his parishioners to starve to death; in a case in which around 430 people would have died following his messages.
In his sermon, he said that this fast should take place before the end of the world, which was scheduled to arrive in August 2023.
But his story began to attract attention after the bodies of hundreds of people, including children, were found buried in a forest.
Pastor Paul Mackenzie has been blamed for the deaths of hundreds of church members in Kenya. Photo: EFE
Kenyan prosecutors accused the man of “murder,” but months ago they also charged him with torture, cruelty and involuntary manslaughter.
This is how this former taxi driver was arrested and it is believed that at least 429 people died after his speech.
Hundreds of bodies were found in the Shakahola forest near the Indian Ocean coast where Paul Mackenzie gave his sermon.
The BBC revealed that the priest defended himself on the grounds that he closed his church in 2019 and therefore could not be held responsible for these deaths.
The Shakahola Massacre
The investigations revealed that the majority of people and children died of starvation; while some were strangled, beaten or suffocated.
In addition, it was noted that believers were forced to continue fasting even if they wanted to abandon it.
This religious sect leader was captured in April 2014. However, so far he has been formally charged with the deaths of 191 people in a case known as the “Shakahola massacre.”
The court found that 191 of the 429 deaths were due to the charge of “murder” and 238 were due to “negligent homicide.”
A court also blamed 29 other members of the religious sect, but these people denied the allegations. One of them defended himself by saying that he could not be brought to trial because he was “mentally unstable.”
The religious organization’s lawyer, James Mouko, said that the judiciary cannot bring all these charges because it is “repressive and violates the rights of the accused.”
The case shocked the country and the Kenyan Interior Ministry labeled the International Church of Good News a criminal organization.
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