NAIROBI, November 6. /TASS/. Kenya’s High Court has sentenced religious cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison in connection with the deaths of 191 people, including 190 children, in Shakahola Forest in the southeast of the country, news website kenyans.co.ke reported.

The ruling was delivered by Judge Diana Kavedza Mochache in the city of Mombasa, the website specified. Mackenzie received 100 years in prison for each of 183 deaths caused by forced starvation, as well as 100 years for eight murders he committed personally. The court ruled that the sentences within each of the two groups of charges would run concurrently, while the two principal sentences would run consecutively. This brought his total prison term to 200 years.

Prosecutors had previously sought the death penalty for Mackenzie. However, the judge decided that keeping him alive would make it possible to obtain further information about the whereabouts of the remains of missing children and give their relatives an opportunity to learn what had happened to them.

On October 19, a court found Mackenzie and 28 other followers of his religious organization, Good News International Ministries, guilty of murder. Investigators established that the cult leader had persuaded believers not to eat and not give food to their children, promising that this would allow them to meet Jesus Christ. To enforce these instructions, Mackenzie’s associates threatened and assaulted followers.

Mass graves containing members of the cult were discovered in April 2023 in Shakahola Forest near the town of Malindi. According to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, in total, the remains of 448 people were found there. The investigation revealed that many of the victims were children whose parents had deprived them of food and water on the instructions of the cult’s leadership.

During the court hearings, Mackenzie denied forcing his followers to starve themselves, but the court found his arguments unconvincing.