A self-proclaimed Kenyan preacher, Paul Mackenzie, has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for the murder of 190 children and one adult in a starvation cult that shocked the country.

Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, was convicted last month of murdering 191 people between January 2021 and September 2023 at the sect’s base in Shakahola Forest, near the coastal resort town of Malindi.

The case, widely known as the Shakahola Forest Massacre, came to light in 2023 after hundreds of bodies were discovered at the group’s premises.

Prosecutors accused Mackenzie of encouraging his followers to starve themselves to death in order to “meet Jesus”.

On Friday, the court sentenced him to 100 years for the homicide charges and another 100 years for the starvation-related offences. His 28 co-accused also received lengthy prison terms, with some found to have starved their own children to death.

In delivering the sentence, the judge described the suffering endured by the victims, particularly children.

“Children observed siblings drop dead… as their parents ate and drank,” the judge said.

The court also heard that some victims died from strangulation and severe beatings, while children were subjected to extreme suffering, psychological trauma and terrifying living conditions.

Mackenzie remained impassive as the sentence was read.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, but the judge ruled that it would not serve as an effective deterrent, particularly because the convicts regarded death as a pathway to heaven and reunion with Jesus and their deceased children.

Kenya retains the death penalty, although it has not carried out an execution since 1987.

Francis Wanje, a 62-year-old teacher who lost two grandchildren to the cult, told AFP that he had hoped Mackenzie would be sentenced to death to prevent similar tragedies.

He disclosed that another grandchild, now 11, went without food for eight days before being rescued in March 2023.

Wanje also testified that his two- and five-year-old grandchildren died after their parents, acting on Mackenzie’s instructions, prevented them from eating or drinking.

“Nothing can ease the pain,” he said, blaming authorities for failing to intervene earlier.

“I really have great (anger) towards the authorities. If they had taken action, we would not be here today,” he added.

Mackenzie’s lawyer said he would appeal the verdict. The preacher also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism charges in other trials, which he denies.

About 120 prosecution witnesses testified during the trial. Their accounts revealed that the movement denounced formal education as “satanic”, rejected modern medicine and hospitals as instruments of the devil, and required followers to cut ties with the outside world.

Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after a rights group alerted authorities, leading to the rescue of some followers from the 325-hectare ranch in Shakahola Forest.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights put the death toll at 429 in 2024, with some victims still unidentified.

The tragedy has intensified calls for tighter regulation of religious organisations, particularly after it emerged that Mackenzie had previously been arrested twice but released.

He founded the Good News International Church in 2003 and established branches in Nairobi and along Kenya’s coast, attracting thousands of followers. Although he claimed to have closed the church in 2019, authorities arrested him in 2017 over alleged radicalisation before he was acquitted.

He was arrested again in 2019 in connection with the deaths of two children in Shakahola but was released on bail.