"Pastor" Mackenzie appears in court

The self-proclaimed "pastor" accused of starving his followers to death in Kenya appeared in court this Tuesday in the coastal town of Malindi.

Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, a former taxi driver, is being tried for his role in the "Shakahola Forest Massacre", where at least 109 members of his sect were found dead.

Mackenzie founded the Good News International Church in 2003.

In 2017, he was arrested on charges of 'radicalisation' and 'teaching in an unregistered institution'. He was later tried and acquitted in October 2021.

In March 2019, a member of his church was also charged with "cruelty and neglect of children" in what raised further questions about his sect.

Pastor Mackenzie claims he closed his church in August 2019 and moved to the forest village of Shakahola where the authorities found mass graves in April.