- Mombasa High Court Judge Justice Diana Kavedza is delivering judgment in the Shakahola massacre case on Monday, October 19
- Paul Mackenzie and 29 co-accused face murder charges over the deaths of 191 people, most of them children, in Kilifi County
- The court examined how Mackenzie's Good News International Ministries displayed classic characteristics of an apocalyptic cult
Nancy Odindo is a current affairs writer at Tuko.co.ke (joined in 2023). She has one year of experience in print and more than five years in digital media.
A Mombasa High Court judge has ruled that Paul Mackenzie's Good News International Ministries operated as a cult, delivering a significant finding on Monday, October 19, as the Shakahola massacre judgment got underway.
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Justice Diana Kavedza made the determination after examining extensive testimony and evidence regarding how the church functioned, concluding that it met all defining characteristics of an apocalyptic or doomsday cult.
How the court defined Mackenzie's church
Justice Kavedza identified several hallmarks of cult behaviour present within the Good News International Ministries.
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These included the enforcement of an "us versus them" worldview, in which Mackenzie portrayed the outside world as evil and his settlement in Shakahola Forest as the only safe sanctuary for the faithful.
The judge noted that guards were posted along the settlement's boundaries to prevent members from leaving or making contact with outsiders.
Members were barred from visiting the nearby Shakahola market, and children were forbidden from leaving their homes to play with neighbours.
Testimony from witnesses described how Mackenzie refused to allow children to return home to their families. One witness, PW57, told the court that after contacting Mackenzie about his children who had been taken to Shakahola, he was told to sell his property and join them rather than expect his children back.
The court also heard that Mackenzie's methods mirrored those of Jim Jones of the People's Temple in Jonestown, who manipulated followers through exhaustion, enforced confessions, and total isolation from broader society.
Similarly, Mackenzie banned education, healthcare, and the immunisation of children, denouncing government policies as the work of the Antichrist.
"The foregoing evidence clearly demonstrates that the GNI followers succumbed to apocalyptic conditioning by the first accused... The court does not therefore hesitate to find that GNI Ministries was a cult as it met all the characteristics of an apocalyptic or doomsday cult," the judge said.
The charges against Mackenzie
Mackenzie, a former taxi driver who founded Good News International Church in 2003, faces murder charges alongside 29 co-accused over the deaths of 191 people.
The majority of the victims were children, who prosecutors allege were forced to starve to death as part of Mackenzie's doctrine that dying through fasting would allow followers to "meet Jesus."
All 30 accused have pleaded not guilty, consistently maintaining that no one was forced to die.
The Shakahola atrocity came to light in March 2023 after an escapee reported that followers were being starved inside the forest.
Police subsequently discovered hundreds of bodies in shallow graves across an 800-acre piece of land in Kilifi county.
More than 400 deaths were ultimately linked to the settlement, with exhumations revealing victims included children buried in ceremonies followers referred to as "Harusi."
Beyond the murder charges, Mackenzie faces additional counts including terrorism, radicalisation, and denying children access to education. Monday's proceedings marked the first time the pastor has faced a verdict on the most serious charges against him.
Source: TUKO.co.ke