Kenya starvation cult leader charged in connection with 52 further deaths

Former cult leader Paul Mackenzie, already on trial for multiple counts of manslaughter, is facing new charges, Kenyan prosecutors said on Monday.

A self-proclaimed preacher and former taxi driver, Mackenzie led an infamous starvation cult that killed more than 400 people.

The so-called Shakahola Forest Massacre took place near the beach resort of Malindi and came to light in 2023. Mackenzie has pleaded not guilty.

He’s now being charged with 52 further deaths in the remote village of Binzaro, where more bodies were found last year.

The discovery appeared to show that the same cult had continued to operate even after the first massacre site was discovered and Mackenzie arrested.

In a statement on X, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said a Malindi court had given its go-ahead to "formally charge Good News International Church leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and his co-accused over the deaths of 52 people at the Binzaro homestead in Kilifi County."

Mackenzie and others will be charged with a raft of offences, including radicalisation, "facilitation of terrorist acts," and murder over the more recent killings, adding to his charges related to Shakahola.

Mackenzie has been accused in previous Shakahola trials of inciting his followers to starve themselves to "meet Jesus", using enforcers to prevent people from leaving the forest.

Authorities faced criticism after Shakahola, following accusations the deaths could have been prevented had there been tougher regulations.

Efforts to regulate religion in the majority-Christian country have been fiercely opposed in the past as undermining constitutional guarantees of the division between church and state.