Nairobi — The Public Prosecutor has until January 23 to charge Paul Mackenzie, the leader of the Shakahola forest starvation cult, blamed for the death of over 400 followers of his so-called Good News International Church.

Shanzu Principal Magistrate Yousuf Shikanda issued the new ultimatum on Tuesday citing the historic length of pre-trial detention on Mackenzie and his associates.

"As already stated in my previous ruling, this is the longest pre-charge detention in the history of the country following the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010," Shikanda outlined in his ruling.

The Principal Magistrate who noted the accused persons had been in detention of 117 days since their arrest said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) must process charges against the accused persons within 14 days.

"If no decision to charge the respondents will have been made after the expiry of such period, the court will consider releasing the respondents from custody on terms that will be determined by the court," he said.

Mackenzie, who is already serving time in jail for distributing films without a license, is linked to mass graves in Kilifi's Shakahola forest where he led followers to fast to death promising them 'heaven'.

The controversial televangelist was arrested in April 2022 and re-arrested immediately after his release in May.

The State subsequently filed an application seeking time to conclude investigations in line of ongoing exhumation of bodies and autopsies to establish the cause of death victims whose bodies were retrieved from mass graves.