A popular pastor whose followers died after reportedly obeying his instructions to fast in preparation for meeting Jesus has been handed a 200-year prison sentence in Kenya over one of the country’s most disturbing cases of religious extremism.
The pastor, Paul Mackenzie, was convicted alongside 28 others for their roles in the deaths of 191 people, including 190 children, at Shakahola Forest in Kenya’s coastal region. The court found that Mackenzie played the leading role in directing his followers to undertake deadly fasting practices.
Justice Diana Mochache, who delivered the judgment, said Mackenzie bore the “primary criminal culpability” for organising and promoting the practices that led to the deaths.
For the offences, the court imposed 100 years’ imprisonment for homicide and another 100 years for crimes relating to starvation. Although sentences within each category will run concurrently, the two categories will run consecutively, bringing the total term to 200 years.
According to the BBC, Justice Mochache described the killings as “cold and calculated”, adding that the punishment was intended to demonstrate that such atrocities would attract the maximum penalties allowed under the law.
Other defendants were also handed lengthy prison terms for their alleged roles in the operation. Among them were guards accused of e