The Kenyan judiciary will prosecute Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, a self-proclaimed pastor detained since April 2023 in the investigation into the deaths of 429 followers of his evangelical sect, along with 94 other people, for terrorism and murder, among other charges, the prosecutor announced on Tuesday January 16.
“After a thorough analysis of the evidence, the Director of Public Prosecutions is satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to prosecute 95 suspects,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The “Shakahola Massacre,” named after a forest in Kenya where an evangelical sect was meeting, shook this highly religious East African country. Last week, a court had given the authorities 14 days to bring charges against Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, failing which he would be released.
Paul Nthenge Mackenzie’s detention has been extended several times to allow the search for victims in the Shakahola forest (south-east), where his “International Church of Good News” met, and to whom he preached fasting to death to “meet Jesus” before the end of the world in August 2023. Mackenzie and his co-defendants will face 10 charges, including murder, manslaughter, and terrorism.
It was not specified when the 95 suspects would be brought before a court of law, but according to the press release, the judiciary wants to “initiate proceedings as soon as possible.”
A cab driver before proclaiming himself a pastor, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie has been in detention since April 14, the day after the first victims were discovered in the Shakahola forest. Since then, 429 bodies have been found in this area of the Kenyan coast. Autopsies have revealed that most of the victims died of starvation, probably after following the preaching of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie. Some, including children, had been strangled, beaten, or suffocated.