A suspected Kenyan cult leader and his accomplices will face murder and child torture charges for orchestrating the deaths of 429 in Kenya.
On Tuesday, Doomsday pastor Paul Mackenzie was ordered to remain behind bars. Kenya’s director of public prosecutions, Mulele Ingonga, was faced with the decision to bring forth charges or release the cult leader. Mackenzie and 28 others have been held since April 2023 for allegedly leading his followers to fast until the point of starvation. However, 95 people have been identified as helpers of Mackenzie and will also face charges.
The terrifying cult was uncovered when 15 severely emaciated members of Mackenzie church in Kilifi County were taken to a hospital. Four died, while the survivors told authorities that their church leader told them to fast due to the world ending. Mackenzie allegedly told them they needed to starve in order to get into heaven.
These revelations sparked a search of a remote wooded area near the Indian Ocean coast. There, investigators located dozens of mass graves. Even more shocking is that the deceased did not only starve. Some of them were found to have been strangled, beaten, or suffocated. The grim finding is now being referred to as the “Shakahola forest massacre.” Now, authorities must work to identify the hundreds of bodies, a task that is proving tedious.
“The entire process is delicate, laborious, and time-consuming given the large number of bodies to be identified,” the prosecutor’s office wrote.
Mackenzie is already serving a one-year sentence for operating a film studio and producing films without a valid license. He now faces much more severe charges. His 95 associates are also being charged with murder, manslaughter, assault causing bodily harm, engaging in organized criminal activity, and more.
