Kenya: Pastor Who Starved 190 Children Sentenced to 200 Years in Prison

Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, founder of the Good News International Church, was sentenced by the High Court in Mombasa on November 6, 2026, to 200 years in prison for the deaths of 191 people in the Shakahola forest, including 190 children. He received 100 years for 183 counts of murder by starvation and another 100 years for eight murders involving direct violence, with the sentences to run consecutively. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, but Judge Diana Kavedza-Mochache declined to impose it. The verdict closes part of the judicial case, while questions about failures by the Kenyan state remain.