A Kenyan judge sentenced cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison on Friday over the Shakahola massacre, in which 191 people, 190 of them children, were starved to death.
Justice Diana Kavedza of the High Court in Mombasa imposed 100 years for the murders by starvation and a further 100 years for eight counts of murder by direct homicide involving child victims, The Star reported. Sentences within each set run concurrently, but the two sets run one after the other, which brings the total to 200 years.
Prosecutors had asked for the death penalty. The judge declined, saying it would “foreclose the possibility of disengagement and rehabilitation.” According to Kenyans.co.ke, she also noted that a convict who stays alive might disclose where the missing children’s remains are.
The court found Mackenzie, who led Good News International Ministries, bore primary responsibility as the overall leader of the Shakahola settlement. She said he ordered followers to fast to death, targeted children first and commanded violence against those who resisted or tried to escape. Witnesses testified that he told followers they would enter heaven through “punches and kicks.”
