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Kenyan cult leader sentenced to 200 years in prison over the deaths of 190 children
CNN • • world
Key Points:
- Paul Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church in Kenya, was sentenced to 200 years in prison for the murder of 191 people, mostly children, through starvation and direct homicide linked to forced fasting practices.
- The court found that Mackenzie used religious doomsday teachings to coerce followers into abandoning their homes and fasting in Shakahola Forest, where many children were starved, restrained, or killed.
- Of the 191 victims, 183 died from starvation and eight from suffocation, strangulation, or blunt force trauma, with 161 victims being children aged nine or younger.
- Authorities have exhumed 429 bodies from the site since April 2023, and further charges against Mackenzie and others involved may follow.
- Survivors and families of victims expressed mixed feelings about the verdict, acknowledging the sentence but lamenting that it cannot fully compensate for their losses.
