200-year prison sentence for leader of Kenya starvation cult

In depth

Mackenzie, a former taxi driver who became a preacher, convinced his followers that the end of the world was coming and instructed them to stop eating in order to meet Jesus. He violently forced parents to starve their children.

In the isolated compound where the cult operated between 2019 and 2023, 400 bodies were found. 448 bodies were found in the forest, and Mackenzie is also charged with the deaths of dozens more in a nearby village.

The judge sentenced Mackenzie to 200 years in prison and rejected the prosecution's demand for the death penalty. According to the ruling, state institutions had failed.