Kenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie is set to face new charges over the deaths of 52 people at a village in Kilifi County.
Mackenzie, who led the Good News International Church, is accused of encouraging his followers to starve themselves to death in preparation for the end of the world.
He has been in custody since his arrest in 2023, following the discovery of 429 bodies, including children, in mass graves in the Shakahola forest.
Mackenzie allegedly used “radical teachings and coordinated structures to lure victims” to the remote village, where they were subjected to a macabre order of starvation, with children first, followed by unmarried women, men, and finally church leaders.
Investigators have recovered handwritten notes from Mackenzie’s prison cell, detailing transactions conducted through mobile phones.
The new charges come after Mackenzie’s co-accused, Enos Amanya Ngala, pleaded guilty to charges related to the deaths of 191 children found in the original mass graves.
Mackenzie has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of manslaughter and is set to face charges of radicalisation, facilitation of terrorist acts, and murder.
