A self-acclaimed pastor in Kenya is set to face a possible death penalty for the murder of 190 children.

Paul Mackenzie, leader of a starvation cult, is accused of deceiving people into starving themselves in order to meet JESUS.

Since 2023, hundreds of bodies have been found buried at the sect’s base near the coastal resort of Malindi in what became known as the “Shakahola Forest Massacre”.

In October 2026, Mackenzie was convicted of murdering 190 children and one adult between January 2021 and September 2023, alongside 28 co-accused, who may face life imprisonment.

Around 120 prosecution witnesses testified during the trial.

His sect denounced formal education as “satanic”, viewed modern medicine and hospitals as instruments of the devil, and required followers to cut themselves off from the outside world.