A Kenyan court on Tuesday charged the leader of a starvation cult and dozens of suspected collaborators with murder in connection with the deaths of over 200 people in a jungle near the Indian Ocean.
Self-proclaimed preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, who has already been charged with terrorism, homicide, child torture, and cruelty, is accused of inciting hundreds of his followers to starve to death in order to “meet Jesus”.
Mackenzie and 29 other defendants pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 191 counts of murder, according to court documents seen by AFP.
A 31st suspect was found to be mentally unfit to stand trial and ordered to return to Malindi High Court in a month.
The cult leader has pled not guilty to all counts against him.
He was caught in April of last year after bodies were discovered in the Shakahola forest, eliciting revulsion around the world.
Autopsies revealed that the bulk of the 429 victims died from hunger.
However, others, including children, appeared to have been strangled, battered, or suffocated.
The “Shakahola forest massacre” case prompted the government to emphasize the necessity for greater control over fringe religions.
Kenya, a mostly Christian country, has struggled to oversee unscrupulous churches and cults engaged in criminal activity.
‘Organised criminal group’
According to court documents, Mackenzie formed Good News International Ministries, which engaged in organized criminal acts, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of followers.
Questions have been raised regarding Mackenzie’s ability to escape law enforcement despite a history of radicalism and prior court proceedings.
According to a Senate committee of investigation report from October, the father of seven was charged with extreme preaching in 2017.
In 2017, he was acquitted of radicalization charges for illegally giving school lessons after rejecting the established educational system, which he argued was incompatible with the Bible.
In 2019, he was additionally charged with involvement in the deaths of two children who were allegedly malnourished, smothered, and buried in a shallow grave in Shakahola. He was released on bail until the trial.
According to government estimates, the East African country of 53 million people has almost 4,000 registered churches.
Previous initiatives to control religious institutions in Kenya have been vigorously rejected as attempts to erode constitutional safeguards for the separation of church and state.