Shakahola cult leader Paul Mackenzie faces trial over deaths of 191 children

A Kenyan court is due to deliver its verdict in the murder trial of doomsday preacher Paul Mackenzie and 29 followers, who are accused of killing 191 children. Prosecutors allege the cult forced children to starve to death so they could “meet Jesus”; Mackenzie and the other defendants have pleaded not guilty and insist nobody was forced to die. More than 400 bodies were found in shallow graves in Shakahola forest, where men hired from nearby towns were paid to exhume remains. Mackenzie also faces other cases, including charges related to terrorism, radicalisation and denying children an education.