Shakahola horror: Paul Makenzi sentenced to 200 years in prison

Paul Makenzi sentenced to 200 years in prison, while his 28 co-accused received sentences of between 10 and 160 years for the murders of 191 people within Shakahola Forest. [Robert Menza, Standard]

The High Court in Mombasa has sentenced doomsday preacher Paul Makenzi to 200 years in prison for the murder of 191 people in the Shakahola massacre.

Justice Diana Kavedza Mochache also sentenced his 28 co-accused to prison terms ranging from 10 to 160 years.

The twenty-eight (28) co- accused persons were found guilty of all 191 murder counts last month involving the deaths of 190 children and one adult.

Justice Mochache sentenced Makenzi, the founder of Good News International Church, to 100 years in prison for 183 counts of murder by starvation involving 182 children and one adult.

He received a further 100 years for murder by direct homicide involving child victims, bringing his total sentence to 200 years.

The judge, in her ruling, said some victims died of starvation, while autopsies showed that others had been strangled, suffocated or killed through blunt force trauma.

Cult leader Paul Makenzi is escorted by heavily armed police officers after his sentencing to 200 years in prison by the Mombasa High Court over the Shakahola massacre. [Robert Menza, Standard]

She ordered the sentences to run consecutively, saying the decision recognised the distinction between the charges and ensured adequate punishment.

Makenzi's 28 co-accused received prison terms ranging from 10 to 160 years, depending on their individual levels of responsibility.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions had sought the death penalty for Makenzi and life imprisonment for his co-accused, but the judge declined to grant the requests.

In October, Justice Mochache convicted Makenzi and his co-accused of murders committed between January 2021 and September 2023 within Shakahola forest.

She said they had exploited their victims by abusing their spiritual authority and betraying the trust of parents who had entrusted them with the care of their children, some of whom died.

Justice Diana Kavedza Mochache when she sentenced doomsday preacher Paul Makenzi to 200 years and his co-accused to between 10 and 160 years in prison over the murder of 191 people in the Shakahola massacre. [Robert Menza, Standard]

The judge cited Makenzi's role in the killings, noting that witnesses testified he often told his followers they would enter heaven through “punches and kicks,” even if they were crippled.

She said the remarks demonstrated his brutality.

Justice Mochache said the co-accused could qualify for early release after serving half their sentences and completing a prison-based deradicalisation programme.

In 2023, a human rights organisation alerted authorities to the deaths at Shakahola, prompting an investigation that led to the exhumation of more than 400 bodies from shallow graves on the 800-acre Chakama Ranch in Kilifi County.

More than sixty (60)  bodies were positively identified by relatives and released for burial. Many others remain unidentified and unclaimed.