Three years ago, Kenyan police found the first graves in a forest compound in Kilifi County (on Kenya’s southeastern coast). By the time they finished counting, 457 bodies had been exhumed from the property of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, founder of the Good News International Ministries. Mackenzie had taught that fasting unto death was the path to God. His followers starved themselves and their children to meet Jesus before an anticipated end of the world that did not come. NNW covered the discovery in 2023.
The case has now reached a turning point — twice. On April 2, 2026, a court in Shanzu (a coastal town near Mombasa) ruled that Mackenzie and 95 co-accused had a case to answer on charges of organized crime and terrorism. Thirteen days later, on April 15, a Mombasa court reached the same conclusion on 191 counts of murder. That trial lists 30 co-accused and 121 witnesses. Both proceedings are ongoing.
Then there is the third thread. In February 2026, Reuters reported that prosecutors had filed additional charges over 52 deaths at a second site — Kwa Binzaro, in Chakama, Kilifi County. Testimony in that case continued as recently as April 30, 2026. One mother testified that her children were locked in a room for seven days without food. A father testified that six of his children died.
One co-accused has already entered a guilty plea. Enos Amanya, known to followers as “Aleluya,” pleaded guilty to charges arising from the Shakahola deaths. Sentencing is pending.
The defense has announced plans to call a Catholic priest, a Muslim cleric, and an academic scholar as witnesses — apparently to argue that fasting is a recognized religious practice. It is. Fasting unto death, of other people’s children, on the instructions of a man who was not himself fasting, is a narrower category.
That detail emerged during the investigation. When police searched Mackenzie’s private quarters inside the forest compound, they found a dietary menu. He had one. His followers did not.
The total confirmed death toll across both sites now stands at over 509. Mackenzie remains in custody. His case to answer is, by any reasonable measure, substantial.
FAKE NEWS ENTERS THE CASE
While courts deliberate, social media produced its own version of events. In March 2026, fabricated graphics circulated on Facebook. The posts claimed that Mackenzie had accused President William Ruto of ordering the Shakahola sacrifices to secure the 2022 election. The statement — written in Kiswahili (Swahili, a major East African language) and presented as authentic — accumulated 2.4 million views.
It was entirely false. Africa Check (African fact-checking organization) traced the content to a Facebook page called Kenya News Flash — a page with a documented history of fabricating quotes attributed to prominent public figures. No credible media outlet reported the remarks. No judicial source confirmed them.
