By Hassan Wekesa - Editor
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Kenya, November 06, 2026 - Cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie has received a combined sentence of 200 years in prison for killing 190 children and one adult in Shakahola Forest between January 2021 and September 2023.
The High Court in Mombasa handed him two separate 100-year terms, separating the victims who starved to death from those who were killed directly through suffocation, strangulation or blunt force trauma.
For the first group, the court gave him 100 years for each of 183 counts of murder by starvation, covering 182 children and one adult.
For the second group, he received 100 years for each of eight counts of direct homicide against children.
The judge ordered that the two sets of sentences be served one after the other, giving a total of 200 years’ imprisonment.
By making the terms consecutive, the court recognised that the two forms of killing were distinct and sought to ensure the punishment matched the seriousness of the crimes.