200 years: Why Paul Makenzi was not sentenced to death over Shakahola murders

Paul Makenzi appears for sentencing before Justice Diana Kavedza Mochache at the Mombasa Law Courts. [Robert Menza, Standard]

When Jesus Christ called his 12 disciples, he told them he would make them fishers of men. Their mission was to spread the Gospel and convert sinners into his followers. However, when Paul Makenzi started his church, it morphed into a cult. Instead of saving souls, he led his followers to their deaths.

He led men, women and children to starve themselves to death. Those who did not die from starvation were allegedly bludgeoned to death by him and his adherents.

Yesterday, Makenzi also met his fate: 200 years in prison. His accomplices were handed sentences ranging from 10 to 160 years.

High Court judge Diana Mochache sentenced cult leader Paul Makenzi to 200 years in prison for the murder of 191 people, including 190 children and one adult, in Kilifi County's Shakahola Forest.

As Mochache delivered the sentence, saying the scale of human suffering demanded the full weight of the law, Makenzi, dressed in a dark grey T-shirt, was seen smiling and chatting with his co-convicts.

The judge said Makenzi and his co-convicts had breached their sacrosanct duty and position of trust by engaging in predatory conduct against congregants they were obligated to protect.

Paul Makenzi appears for sentencing before Justice Diana Kavedza Mochache at the Mombasa Law Courts. [Robert Menza, Standard]

Mochache said the sentence comprised 100 years for murder by starvation and another 100 years for direct homicide. She reiterated that Makenzi bore the primary criminal culpability.

She said 182 children and an adult had been starved to death, while eight victims were strangled or beaten to death. Those who were beaten or strangled had evidence of manual neck compression and traumatic head injuries.

The court also handed lengthy prison sentences to 26 co-convicts. Fifteen received 160 years each, 10 were sentenced to 140 years, and one received 100 years.

Enos Amanya Ngala and Lucas Owino were each sentenced to 10 years in prison. Ngala had entered into a plea-bargaining agreement with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

The sentencing followed a judgment delivered on October 19, 2026, when Justice Mochache found Makenzi and 28 co-accused guilty of all 191 murder charges.

Investigations established that Makenzi's followers lived in makeshift structures within the remote Chakama Ranch, an approximately 800-acre property.

The isolated settlement made it difficult for outsiders to monitor activities taking place within the community. The Shakahola tragedy came to national attention in April 2023 after police began investigating reports of missing people and discovered human remains in shallow graves.

The discoveries triggered a major investigation involving police officers, forensic experts and other government agencies. Authorities eventually recovered hundreds of bodies from the forest. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) reported that 448 bodies had been recovered from Shakahola, although the 191 deaths involving 190 children and one adult were the subject of the murder trial.

Forensic investigations revealed that victims had died under different circumstances. While many died from starvation, others showed evidence of asphyxia, neck compression and head injuries. Investigators also discovered bodies buried in shallow graves and others disposed of in latrines.

The trial initially involved 31 people charged with murder, but proceedings against two accused persons ended following their deaths, leaving 29 defendants to face judgment.

During mitigation, the convicted cult leaders' lawyers made a dramatic shift from their previous defiance, pleading for mercy and formally requesting prison terms of less than 10 years.

Lawyer Lawrence Obonyo said Makenzi and his co-convicts had undergone spiritual transformation during the three years they had spent in custody. Obonyo claimed the convicts had participated in custody-led religious and rehabilitation programmes and were willing to join the National Counter Terrorism Centre's de-radicalisation programme.

The defence team also tried to persuade the court that the convicts were themselves victims of the massacre, arguing that many had lost personal property, livelihoods and children as a result of the mass starvation regime.

However, Mochache rejected the pleas for sentences of less than 10 years, saying punishment serves as retribution, denunciation and deterrence, as well as providing a tangible loss to the offender.

Paul Makenzi appears for sentencing before Justice Diana Kavedza Mochache at the Mombasa Law Courts. [Robert Menza, Standard]

In her judgment, she dismissed claims by Makenzi's lawyers that his followers had died out of free will or religious piety. She said the starvation had been enforced through an organised criminal enterprise led by Makenzi and his trusted devotees.

“Makenzi bears the primary criminal culpability in his capacity as the overall leader of Good News International (GNI) ministries and the Shakahola settlement. He orchestrated the exodus of people to the wilderness and presided over meetings where he issued central directives, ordering his followers to fast to death, explicitly targeting children as the initial victims,” said Mochache.

The judge said Makenzi had also presided over the burial of victims in ceremonies he referred to as weddings. She added that he had issued directives that force or violence should be used against children who stopped fasting or tried to escape.

Makenzi's directives were implemented by the second convict, Smart Deri Mwakamala, alias Mzee Smart, whom the court identified as the second-in-command and principal organiser of the cult. He was sentenced to 160 years in prison.

Mochache said Mwakamala had also been tasked with transporting GNI followers from Malindi to the Shakahola wilderness, which is about 70 kilometres from Malindi town.

“Mwakalama was also identified as the second in command and a principal organiser. He transported GNI followers into Shakahola and passed messages from Makenzi to village elders,” said Mochache.

The third convict, Stephen Sanga Muya, also known as Stephen Sangamuya, was in charge of the cult's security operations. He beat those who tried to escape, killing some and leaving others with severe injuries. He was also sentenced to 160 years.

“He also obstructed rescue operations. He summoned GNI followers to meetings that were addressed by Makenzi. He was at the graves for the burials of victims,” said Mochache.

The fourth convict, Evans Kolombe Sirya, was the overall village elder and liaison officer to local administrators. He was also in charge of managing the villages.

“He assaulted children who resisted the fast or attempted to escape after Makenzi issued a directive that it's better for a child to enter heaven with a crippled (disabled) person," said Mochache, adding that Sirya was among those who buried the victims. He was sentenced to 160 years for his role.

The judge highlighted that starvation had been enforced through systematic violence, with children who resisted allegedly beaten, suffocated or tied to trees.

She said that, for the eight victims whose autopsies revealed physical blunt-force trauma and strangulation, the court had imposed additional consecutive homicide sentences to prevent the sentences from running concurrently.

The judgment amounted to a scathing condemnation of religious exploitation in Kenya, with Mochache denouncing Makenzi for weaponising his spiritual authority to manipulate his followers.

“This spiritual authority led parents to willingly abandon their most sacrosanct role of guardian and carers, withdraw children from school, destroy IDs and sell their properties to surrender their future to Makenzi,” said Mochache.

The judge said Makenzi had subsequently turned his congregation's trust into total control, transforming his role from that of an apparent protector into an absolute tyrant.

“His position of trust was merely a facade,” said Mochache, adding that some of Makenzi's trusted disciples were pastors, village elders, counsellors and guardians.

The judge said the 200-year sentence was structured to achieve retribution, denunciation and deterrence. She added that its severity served as a warning to unregulated or predatory religious institutions across Kenya.

The defence argued that the convicts had not executed victims using physical violence or weapons but had acted under the influence of deeply held, albeit catastrophic, religious convictions.

It urged the court to exercise judicial discretion and distinguish between the levels of involvement and individual culpability of each convict rather than impose blanket maximum sentences.

The defence, led by Obonyo, also invoked Section 333(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, asking the court to deduct the three years the convicts had spent in custody from their final sentences.

Meanwhile, the prosecution opposed any leniency, citing Makenzi's alleged lack of remorse and regret, as well as the extreme vulnerability of the minors who were starved or beaten to death.

Ultimately, Mochache ruled that a lenient sentence would bear no rational relationship to the monumental loss of 191 innocent lives. She dismissed the argument that the convicts' loss of their own children excused their active roles in the calculated mass murder of others.

She said the cult's structured operations bore the hallmarks of crimes against humanity under the International Crimes Act, including extermination, torture and severe deprivation of physical liberty.

The judge said the sentences reflected 191 distinct counts of murder under Section 203 of the Penal Code and that Makenzi had been found individually and collectively liable for the deaths.

An analysis of the sentence reveals a landmark intersection of criminal justice, constitutional law and judicial messaging. The prosecution had explicitly sought the death penalty.

Kenya has maintained a moratorium on executions since 1987, although the death penalty remains in the country's laws. Lawyers said the sentence was an airtight alternative, closing off any future avenues for early parole.

Citing Article 53 of the Constitution and the Children Act, Mochache said: "Religious freedom does not extend to the right to sacrifice or orchestrate the death of a child."

She said Makenzi's directive to fast to death, and instructions that anyone who resisted should be "forced to heaven through kicks and blows", proved criminal intent beyond reasonable doubt.

“A religious motive does not erase malice aforethought,” said the judge.

Makenzi had previously attracted the attention of authorities before the mass deaths were discovered. Police searched his premises in 2017, while his church in Malindi was shut down in 2019. He subsequently relocated his religious activities to Shakahola Forest.

The tragedy later prompted President William Ruto to appoint a task force in May 2023 to review the legal and regulatory framework governing religious organisations.

Makenzi built his reputation as a trusted spiritual guide after establishing Good News International Ministries in Malindi in 2010. He later won unwavering trust through his charismatic media presentations, speaking directly to people's struggles during the Covid-19 pandemic.