The self-proclaimed leader of an evangelical doomsday cult in Kenya has gone on trial in Mombasa, facing charges of terrorism for allegedly inciting more than 400 of his followers to starve themselves to death.
Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie appeared in court in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa on Monday, along with 94 co-defendants.
The accused are also facing charges of murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, torturing children and cruelty in separate cases.
They all pleaded not guilty at a first hearing in January.
Mackenzie, who was arrested in April 2023, is alleged to have incited his acolytes to starve to death in order to "meet Jesus".
The remains of more than 440 people have been unearthed so far in a remote area inland from the coastal town of Malindi, in a case that has been dubbed the "Shakahola forest massacre".
Autopsies have found that while starvation appeared to be the main cause of death, some of the victims – including children – were strangled, beaten, or suffocated.
Previous court documents reported that some of the bodies had had their organs removed.
Breach of security
Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, founded the Good News International Church in 2003.
He turned himself in on 14 April last year after police, acting on a tip-off, first entered Shakahola forest and found mass graves.
In March, the authorities began releasing some victims' bodies to distraught relatives after months of painstaking work to identify them using DNA.
Questions have been raised about how Mackenzie, a self-styled pastor with a history of extremism, managed to evade law enforcement despite his prominent profile and previous legal cases.
"The Shakahola massacre is the worst breach of security in the history of our country," Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki told a senate committee hearing at which he vowed to "relentlessly push for legal reforms to tame rogue preachers".
Kindiki had accused Kenyan police of laxity when they began investigating initial reports of starvation.
The state-backed Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) in March criticised security officers in Malindi for "gross abdication of duty and negligence".
Kenya is a mainly Christian country and President William Ruto has vowed to intervene in homegrown religious movements.
(with newswires)
