Pastor Paul Mackenzie was sentenced to 200 years in prison for the murders of 191 people.
The 29 defendants, including guards who enforced fasting orders and gravediggers who concealed mass graves, were convicted on October 19 after a trial in Mombasa, Kenya. Justice Diana Kavedza handed down sentences ranging from 160 to 200 years, with Mackenzie’s assistant pastor, Smart Mwakalama, receiving 160 years.
Kavedza ruled that Mackenzie bore the “primary criminal culpability” for relocating his followers to Chakama Ranch in coastal Kilifi County and ordering them to starve themselves to meet Jesus. The justice said the killings were “cold and calculated” and noted that 183 victims died of starvation while eight others were murdered by direct homicide.
During the sentencing, Mackenzie often smiled and chatted with Mwakalama. Kavedza dismissed claims by some defendants that losing their own children should mitigate their participation in the deaths of many others. The justice also noted the perpetrators showed no remorse and declared they were ready to fast to death themselves.
All 29 have been granted 14 days to file an appeal. Defense lawyer Lawrence Obonyo, who represents Mackenzie and several others, said that he had already launched an appeal. He said that the decision was “circling around the constitution to give a sentence that is unattainable” since the sentences amount to life sentences.
The prosecution had sought the death penalty for Mackenzie and life imprisonment for his accomplices. Those sentenced to death in Kenyan courts serve a life sentence, as Kenya’s last execution was in 1987.
Suleiman Ziro, a father of seven who traveled 75 miles for the sentencing, lost six of his children and his wife to the cult in 2023. He said that the sentence wasn’t enough, especially because he has yet to recover the bodies of his loved ones, calling for the death penalty in the case.
More than 400 bodies were exhumed from shallow graves on the 800-acre ranch in 2023, where Mackenzie’s followers lived in mud huts away from local communities and authorities. More than 60 bodies were positively identified and reburied by relatives, while many others remain unidentified and unclaimed.
Mackenzie is also facing terrorism and manslaughter charges for the more than 200 other victims, as well as child abuse and torture charges in two other courts. All 29 defendants denied the murder charges except for one person who confessed and pleaded for leniency.
