Kenya Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty for Mackenzie Over 191 Shakahola Deaths
The preacher whose followers were told to fast to death will be sentenced Nov. 6 in Mombasa, along with 28 others convicted in the Shakahola Forest killings.
See where this is ›MOMBASA, Kenya —
Kenya's prosecutors have asked the High Court in Mombasa, Kenya, to sentence preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie to death for the murders of 191 people, 190 of them children, in Shakahola Forest, Pulse Kenya and Court Helicopter reported Nov. 3.
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Jami Yamina presented the state's sentencing requests. “The prosecution supports the imposition of capital punishment for Mackenzie,” Yamina said, according to Pulse Kenya, adding that the court should weigh his mitigation, remorse, regret and prospects for rehabilitation. The prosecution cited Section 204 of Kenya's Penal Code and the Supreme Court's Muruatetu ruling.
See where this is ›Mackenzie and 28 co-accused were convicted Oct. 19 on 191 counts of murder for deaths between January 2021 and September 2023 in Shakahola Forest, in Malindi Sub-County of Kilifi County. The Star reported that the court rejected the defense claim that the victims “voluntarily fasted to death,” finding that Mackenzie had directed followers to fast to death to meet Jesus and that some were beaten to death for seeking or secretly eating food. Investigators recovered 429 bodies from shallow graves in the forest, according to The Star.
For 27 of the other convicts, the state asked for life in prison. Prosecutors said they served as village elders, enforcers, cooks and grave diggers and had been heavily indoctrinated by Mackenzie. If the court will not impose life terms, the state proposed a separate sentence for each of the 191 deaths, grouped by the victims' ages: up to 7, 8 to 14, and 15 to 18.
A 29th convict, Enos Amanya Ngala, pleaded guilty to all 191 counts under a plea agreement. For him, prosecutors proposed a 24- to 30-month custodial rehabilitation program with progress reports, taking into account a proposed 11-year term, time already held on remand and remission. Kenya's National Counter Terrorism Centre recommended voluntary rehabilitation and counter-narrative programs to help the convicts return to society.
Justice Diana Kavedza is expected to sentence all 29 convicts on Friday, Nov. 6, Pulse Kenya and Court Helicopter reported.
What we don't know yet: The reports we read do not record what Mackenzie himself told the court. The Star named High Court Judge Diana Mochache as the judge who read the Oct. 19 verdict, while Pulse Kenya and Court Helicopter name Justice Diana Kavedza for sentencing; Watchman News has not confirmed whether the same judge will hand down the sentences.
