A KENYAN self-proclaimed “pastor” accused of starving his followers to death in Kenya appeared in court today (May 2) after over 100 bodies were discovered on his land.

Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie is facing criminal charges for his role in what has been dubbed the ‘Shakahola Forest Massacre‘, in which at least 109 members of his church were found dead.

Search

Authorities are continuing their search and expect more bodies to be found around the Shakahola forest, where the pastor’s Good News International Church was located.

The bodies were uncovered after a tip-off. As the search operation continues in the Shakahola Forest village where the Good News International Church was based, authorities and international charity Red Cross said it is likely that the death toll could rise as 200 people remain missing.

The church, which was founded in 2003, is now being referred to as a cult after Mackenzie was accused of telling followers to starve themselves if they wanted to go to heaven. He has denied the claims.

Arrest

This isn’t the first time Pastor Mackenzie has been arrested and faced criminal charges.

In 2017 he was arrested and charged with “radicalization” and “teaching in an unregistered institution”. However he was acquitted after a trial in October 2021.

Further concerns were raised about his church after a member was accused of “cruelty and neglect of children” in March 2019.

Pastor Mackenzie claims he closed his church in August 2019 . However, according to the BBC hundreds of his sermons are still available online, some of which appear to have been recorded more recently,

He has attracted controversy for previous sermons in which he claimed that schoolchildren were being taught “gayism and lesbianism”. 

Mackenzie also preached that doctors served “a different God”, urging pregnant mothers to avoid medical help during childbirth and refuse to get their children vaccinated.