The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has asked the High Court in Mombasa to sentence Good News International Church leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie to death over the murder of 191 people, most of them children, in Shakahola Forest, Kilifi County.

Deputy DPP Jami Yamina made the submissions on Tuesday before Justice Diana Kavedza, who will sentence all 29 convicts on Friday, November 6, 2026.

Mackenzie and his followers were convicted on 191 counts of murder over deaths that occurred in Shakahola, Malindi Sub-County, between January 2021 and September 2023. Investigators said the victims died after being urged to starve so that they could "meet Jesus". Prosecutors said 190 of the victims were children.

What the prosecution wants

  • Death sentence for Mackenzie under Section 204 of the Penal Code, while acknowledging the court must consider mitigation and his capacity for remorse and rehabilitation.
  • Life imprisonment for 27 co-accused or, alternatively, consecutive sentences treating each of the 191 deaths as a separate offence.
  • An 11-year jail term for Enos Amanya Ngala, who pleaded guilty to all counts under a plea agreement, with credit for time spent in remand and a period of custodial rehabilitation.

Yamina told the court that the gravity of the offences called for punishment that reflected retribution, deterrence, protection of the public and denunciation of the crimes. He grouped the victims by age, noting that many were aged seven and below.

Concern over radicalisation

The prosecution also raised concern that several of the convicts remained heavily indoctrinated and posed a risk of spreading extremist teachings. It asked the court to consider placing them in de-radicalisation and counter-narrative programmes run by the National Counter Terrorism Centre alongside their sentences.

Kenya's courts retain discretion over the death penalty following the Supreme Court's Muruatetu ruling, which outlawed its mandatory application for murder. Death sentences are still handed down, but no execution has been carried out in Kenya since 1987.

A case that shocked the nation

The Shakahola tragedy came to light in 2023 when police began exhuming bodies from shallow graves in the vast forest, eventually recovering more than 400. It triggered a public inquiry, a Senate probe and calls for tighter regulation of religious organisations.

Families of victims are expected to follow Friday's sentencing closely, more than three years after the first graves were found.

Photos: Capital FM (file); ODPP Kenya via Eastleigh Voice. Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.