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Kenyan families weep for starvation cult victims as first bodies released

Malindi, Kenya Reuters Bereaved relatives emerged weeping from a hospital mortuary in Kenya on Tuesday after recovering the remains of loved ones whose doomsday cult leader induced them to starve themselves, according to the authorities. The bodies of more than 400 followers of the Good News International Church have been exhumed from the Shakahola forest […]

Kenyan court rules pastor accused of starving his congregation is mentally fit for trial

Nairobi, Kenya Religion News Service Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, the self–proclaimed Kenyan pastor who is accused of orchestrating the deaths of more than 400 members of his congregation by starvation, was ruled mentally fit to stand trial by the High Court at Malindi on Tuesday. The taxi driver-turned-charismatic preacher faces multiple charges, including murder and terrorism, […]

Kenya cult leader charged with terrorism-related crimes in starvation deaths

Mombasa, Kenya Reuters Kenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 94 others were charged on Thursday with terrorism-related crimes related to the deaths of 429 of his followers whose bodies have been exhumed from the Shakahola forest. The charges, announced during an appearance before a court in the south-eastern city of Mombasa, are the first to […]

Kenya doomsday cult pastor and others will face charges of murder, cruelty and more

Nairobi, Kenya AP Kenya’s top prosecutor on Tuesday ordered that 95 people from a doomsday cult be charged with murder, cruelty, child torture and other crimes in the deaths of 429 people believed to be members of the church. The country’s director of public prosecutions, Mulele Ingonga, was responding to pressure from a magistrate in the coastal […]

Kenyan suspect in religious cult deaths dies in custody after hunger strike

Paul Mackenzie, 50, a Kenyan cult leader accused of ordering his followers, who were members of the Good News International Church, to starve themselves to death in Shakahola forest, and his wife Rhoda Mumbua Maweu, speak to their lawyer George Kariuki from a steel-grilled dock at the Shanzu Law Courts, in Mombasa, Kenya, on 10th May, 2023.

Mombasa, Kenya Reuters A Kenyan accused of involvement in the deaths of hundreds of members of a starvation cult has died after a 10-day hunger strike in police custody, a prosecutor said on Wednesday.  Paul Mackenzie, 50, a Kenyan cult leader accused of ordering his followers, who were members of the Good News International Church, […]

Death toll from Kenyan doomsday cult crosses 300

Forensic experts and homicide detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, gather to exhume bodies of suspected followers of a Christian cult named as "Good News International Church", who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves to death, in Shakahola forest of Kilifi county, Kenya, on 9th May, 2023.

Nairobi, Kenya Reuters The death toll from a Kenyan starvation cult crossed 300 on Tuesday after authorities exhumed more bodies in a forest, in one of the worst cult-related tragedies in recent history. Authorities say the dead were members of the Good News International Church, led by Paul Mackenzie, who is accused of ordering his […]

Kenyan authorities should have prevented cult deaths, President says

Forensic experts and homicide detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, gather to exhume bodies of suspected followers of a Christian cult named as "Good News International Church", who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves to death, in Shakahola forest of Kilifi county, Kenya, on 9th May, 2023.

Nairobi, KenyaReuters Kenyan Government agencies should have been able to prevent the deaths by starvation of more than 200 members of a cult in the country’s coastal region, said President William Ruto, adding he took responsibility for the disaster.  Authorities accuse Paul Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, of ordering his followers to […]