Kenya pastor gets 200 years

Pastor Paul Mackenzie will spend the next two centuries in a Kenyan prison after a judge on Friday handed him a 200 year sentence for the murder of 191 people. The ruling ends a legal battle over the fate of a cult that ordered its members to starve to death in a remote coastal location.

The High Court in Mombasa determined that Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, bore primary criminal culpability for the deaths. Justice Diana Kavedza ruled that 183 of the victims died from a complete lack of food, while eight others died from direct homicide. She described the killings as cold and calculated, rejecting arguments from some defendants that losing their own children changed the nature of their participation.

Mackenzie was tried with 28 other followers, including guards who enforced the fasting orders and gravediggers who helped bury the bodies. All 29 defendants were found guilty on October 19. One defendant pleaded for leniency, but the rest denied the charges. The court sentenced Mackenzie's assistant pastor, Smart Mwakalama, to 160 years in prison.

The case stems from a mass grave discovery in 2023 at Chakama Ranch in Kilifi County. Workers exhumed more than 400 bodies from shallow graves on the 800 acre property. The followers lived in mud huts on the ranch, isolated from local communities. More than 60 bodies have since been identified and reburied by relatives, leaving many victims unclaimed.

Mackenzie also faces separate charges of terrorism, manslaughter, child abuse, and torture in two other courts. These additional cases cover more than 200 other victims. The prosecution had requested the death penalty for Mackenzie and life imprisonment for his accomplices. Kenyan law requires those sentenced to death to serve life behind bars, with the country's last execution occurring in 1987.

Defense lawyer Lawrence Obonyo stated that he has already filed an appeal. He argued that the decision circles around the constitution to create an unattainable sentence, noting that terms between 160 and 200 years effectively amount to life imprisonment. All convicted defendants have 14 days to file their appeals.

Family members expressed mixed reactions to the verdict. Suleiman Ziro, a father of seven who traveled 120 kilometers for the sentencing, lost his wife and six children to the cult. He called for the death penalty, saying the current sentence was insufficient because he has not yet recovered their bodies. Dan Mackenzie, the pastor's son, said the conviction served justice for the victims. He noted that he survived by rebelling against his father's teachings, while two brothers and three sisters now live in a children's home.

During the sentencing hearing, Mackenzie smiled and conversed with Mwakalama. The court dismissed the defendants' lack of remorse, noting they declared themselves ready to fast to death as well. The ruling stands as the first major legal resolution for the families of the Chakama Ranch victims.