Kenyan cult leader charged with killing 191 children with starvation
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29 of Paul Mackenzie’s followers are also charged at a court in the town of Malindi, but one has been deemed to be mentally unfit to stand trial.
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Paul Mackenzie appears at a court in Malindi, Kenya on Monday, April 17, 2023. (AP)
Notorious Kenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie has been charged with the murder of 191 children after having already been charged with committing acts of terror, child cruelty, and torture.
29 of Mackenzie’s followers were also charged at a court in the town of Malindi, but one was deemed to be mentally unfit to stand trial.
All 29 of the defendants, who deny the charges, were subject to mental health evaluations per the judge's orders last month, and are yet to appear before the court on March 7 for a bond hearing.
Exhumations over the past several months unearthed 429 bodies, which included those of 191 children. Autopsies show that some died from strangulation or suffocation.
Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, the pastor of the Good News International church, is accused of bringing his flock to the property outside Malindi. He allegedly instructed them to fast till death to meet Jesus Christ, before burying them in shallow graves scattered over his property.
He is alleged to have forced the cult members to destroy their identification documents.
Teams investigating the site discovered decaying remains buried in mass graves as well as solo burials marked with a cross.
Some people living in mudwalled cottages inside the ranch have left ahead of rescue efforts, and those who could walk or communicate were the most to have been saved.
