Kenyan Court Charges Cult Leader Mackenzie Over 52 More Deaths
Paul Mackenzie, a self-proclaimed religious preacher and seven others were charged over the deaths of at least 52 people whose bodies were found in shallow graves in Kwa Binzaro, Kilifi County, a year after the wider Shakahola cult investigation began.
Prosecutors said the group engaged in organised criminal activity, radicalisation and facilitating terrorist acts, accusing them of promoting extreme beliefs, rejecting government authority and ordering followers to starve themselves and their children. All defendants pleaded not guilty, with the next hearing set for March 4.
Mackenzie was already facing separate charges linked to more than 400 bodies recovered from Shakahola Forest, where most victims were found to have died of starvation. Authorities say he continued directing cult activities even after his 2023 arrest.
InFocus
-
Shakahola cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 38 co-accused persons have denied charges of child cruelty and infringement of children's before the Tononoka Children's Court.
Mackenzie and fellow suspects, facing 16 counts, including child torture, allegedly committed the offences between 2020 and 2023 in Shakahola Forest.
On January 23, Mackenzie, together with his wife and 93 other co-accused, were
Read more »
-
Kenyan state prosecutors have applied to keep cult leader Paul Mackenzie, his wife Rhoda Maweu and 28 other co-accused persons in custody for another 47 days, having already spent 90 days in police custody, Capital FM reports.
This follows the exhumation of 425 bodies in the Shakhaola forest, suspected by police of being part of Mackenzie's cult. Over 600 more cult victims are reportedly still missing.
Mackenzie allegedly "brainwashed" citizens into
Read more »
-
Controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie in the dock.
