Doomsday Preacher: Paul Mackenzie Found Guilty Over Deaths of 191 Shakahola Cult Victims

• A Mombasa High Court judge ruled on Monday, October 19, 2026, that Paul Mackenzie's Good News International Ministries was an apocalyptic cult
• Justice Diana Kavedza found that Mackenzie enforced isolation, banned education and healthcare, and posted guards to stop members from leaving Shakahola Forest
• Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, faces murder charges alongside 29 co-accused over the deaths of 191 people, the majority of whom were children

Paul Mackenzie, the founder of Good News International Ministries, has been found guilty of murder in connection with the deaths of 191 people at his Shakahola Forest settlement in Kilifi County, Kenya.

Mombasa High Court Justice Diana Kavedza opened proceedings on Monday, October 19, 2026, by declaring that Mackenzie's church bore every hallmark of an apocalyptic doomsday cult.

The ruling marked the first time the pastor has faced a verdict on the most serious charges brought against him.

How the court defined Mackenzie's church

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Justice Kavedza identified a clear pattern of cult behaviour within the congregation.

Members lived under an enforced "us versus them" worldview, with Mackenzie casting the outside world as evil and the Shakahola settlement as the sole refuge for true believers.

Armed guards were stationed at the settlement's perimeter to prevent followers from leaving or communicating with outsiders.

Children were confined within the compound, barred from playing with neighbours, and withheld from their own families.

One witness, PW57, told the court that when he contacted Mackenzie seeking the return of his children, who had been brought to Shakahola without his consent, the pastor instructed him to sell his belongings and move there himself rather than expect his children home.

The judge also drew comparisons between Mackenzie's methods and those of Jim Jones of the People's Temple in Jonestown, noting shared tactics of exhaustion, enforced confession, and total social isolation.

Mackenzie additionally banned formal education, medical care, and childhood immunisation, framing government policy as the work of the Antichrist.

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"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," Justice Kavedza stated.

The Facebook post below contains a video providing more details about the doomsday preacher’s case.

The Shakahola massacre

Mackenzie, a former taxi driver who established the Good News International Church in 2003, faces murder charges alongside 29 co-accused.

Prosecutors allege that followers, including large numbers of children, were starved to death in accordance with Mackenzie's teaching that dying through fasting would allow them to "meet Jesus."

All 30 accused have pleaded not guilty, maintaining throughout that participation was voluntary.

The atrocity came to public attention in March 2023 after a survivor escaped and reported what was happening inside the forest.

Police discovered hundreds of bodies in shallow graves across approximately 800 acres of land.

More than 400 deaths were eventually linked to the settlement, and exhumations revealed that children had been buried in ceremonies followers called "Harusi."

Beyond murder, Mackenzie also faces charges of terrorism, radicalisation, and denying children access to education.

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Prison preacher sends a message to Wontumi

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that Evangelist Patricia Asiedua Asante, widely known as Nana Agradaa, publicly reached out to Ghanaian businessman and politician Wontumi following his sentencing, offering prayers and a stern reminder about the power of the law.

Agradaa shared her message through her TV station's official Facebook page after Wontumi was sentenced to two years in prison on July 20, 2026.

Writing with evident emotion, the Ghanaian preacher described Wontumi as her "big brother" and pledged to keep him in her prayers.

Source: YEN.com.gh