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Paul Makenzie, the former leader of the Good News International Ministries, has been sentenced to a cumulative 200 years in prison by a Kenyan court for the murders of 191 people, most of whom were children. The judge, Diana Mochachen, confirmed that Makenzie ordered his followers to kill their own children in order to “meet Jesus,” and said that the chief responsibility for the child killings lay with him. She described the crimes as “cold‑blooded and meticulously planned.” Makenzie received two separate sentences of 100 years each: one for the murders and another for the child killings. The other 28 people found guilty in the case received sentences ranging up to 160 years. Although the prosecution sought the death penalty, Judge Mochachen declined to impose it, noting that such a punishment would preclude any possibility of rehabilitation. Kenya has not carried out a death sentence since 1987. Makenzie was arrested in 2023 after authorities discovered mass graves in the Shakahola forest, a remote area near the Kenyan coast. More than 400 bodies were exhumed from the site. Investigators determined that the majority of the victims died from suffocation, with others dying from asphyxiation, strangulation, or head injuries. The Good News International Ministries was founded by Makenzie in 2003. He later preached that education and medical assistance were contrary to religious beliefs. After the church was closed in 2019, he relocated to the Shakahola forest and urged his followers to join him there. The 191‑victim verdict does not account for all bodies recovered from the graves. Makenzie also faces a separate trial on charges of non‑judicial murder and terrorism, which he denies. Article source: News.am | Image credit: News.am
Paul Makenzie, the former leader of the Good News International Ministries, has been sentenced to a cumulative 200 years in prison by a Kenyan court for the murders of 191 people, most of whom were children. The judge, Diana Mochachen, confirmed that Makenzie ordered his followers to kill their own children in order to “meet Jesus,” and said that the chief responsibility for the child killings lay with him. She described the crimes as “cold‑blooded and meticulously planned.” Makenzie received two separate sentences of 100 years each: one for the murders and another for the child killings. The other 28 people found guilty in the case received sentences ranging up to 160 years. Although the prosecution sought the death penalty, Judge Mochachen declined to impose it, noting that such a punishment would preclude any possibility of rehabilitation. Kenya has not carried out a death sentence since 1987. Makenzie was arrested in 2023 after authorities discovered mass graves in the Shakahola forest, a remote area near the Kenyan coast. More than 400 bodies were exhumed from the site. Investigators determined that the majority of the victims died from suffocation, with others dying from asphyxiation, strangulation, or head injuries. The Good News International Ministries was founded by Makenzie in 2003. He later preached that education and medical assistance were contrary to religious beliefs. After the church was closed in 2019, he relocated to the Shakahola forest and urged his followers to join him there. The 191‑victim verdict does not account for all bodies recovered from the graves. Makenzie also faces a separate trial on charges of non‑judicial murder and terrorism, which he denies.
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