A court in Mombasa, Kenya, convicted Paul Mackenzie in the murder of 191 people on October 19, 2026, bringing a consequential judgment in the Shakahola case after years of proceedings. Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions identifies the victims in this prosecution as 190 children and one adult. The Standard’s court reporting independently confirms the verdict and that composition of the victims.
The prosecution’s statement says Mackenzie and 28 co-accused were convicted by High Court judge Diana Kavedza. Earlier reports described a judgment still being delivered; that is no longer the position recorded here. The finding of guilt is confirmed. We are not reporting an imposed punishment or treating this judgment as the outcome of other charges arising from Shakahola.
What the court found
According to the DPP’s account of the judgment, the offences took place between January 2021 and September 2023 in Shakahola, in Malindi sub-county of Kilifi County. The court found an organised system in which religious authority, relocation and enforced fasting were used against followers. The prosecution says children were targeted first and guards restricted escape. These are findings attributed to the judgment, rather than allegations newly made by this newsroom.
The DPP describes evidence from 123 witnesses, including adults and children, alongside medical, forensic and digital material. That breadth matters because the case concerns individual deaths and responsibility for them, not simply public condemnation of a preacher’s beliefs. A criminal verdict must connect evidence to the people and offences before the court; the prosecution’s statement explains the evidential basis it says met that task.
The Standard reports that the court rejected Mackenzie’s denial that anyone had been forced to die. That is an important distinction in describing this story: claims advanced by a defendant during a trial are part of the record, but they do not erase the court’s subsequent finding. Equally, a conviction should be described precisely, without adding unverified claims about a sentence, an appeal or a separate proceeding.
One verdict within a wider tragedy
The number in this judgment must also be kept separate from the scale of the wider Shakahola investigation. Associated Press reports that more than 400 bodies were recovered in the broader case. The 191 murders covered by this ruling are therefore not a revised total for every death associated with Shakahola. Combining those figures would confuse the reach of a particular prosecution with the overall human toll.
The next court dates
Associated Press now reports that a mitigation hearing is scheduled for October 30, with sentencing to follow on November 6. The Standard also reports the November 6 sentencing date. These are scheduled next steps, not a punishment already imposed. The conviction establishes guilt in this case; the sentence will need to be reported from the subsequent court decision.
Update note, October 19: the hearing timetable has been added after corroboration, while the original publication time and the account of the verdict remain accessible. For bereaved families, the ruling is consequential, but it cannot by itself answer every remaining question about the tragedy. Other Shakahola proceedings and any further court decisions must still be followed on their own terms.
