A Kenyan court has sentenced controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison over his role in a religious cult linked to more than 400 deaths.

The High Court in Mombasa handed down the sentence on Friday, November 6, after convicting Mackenzie of murdering 191 people, including 190 children.

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Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, was accused of ordering followers to starve themselves and their children to death in the belief that they would meet Jesus.

The victims' bodies were discovered in mass graves in Shakahola Forest, in Kenya's coastal Kilifi County, in 2023. More than 400 bodies have since been recovered.

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The court also convicted 28 other defendants who were linked to the killings. Mackenzie had denied forcing his followers to starve.

The case, widely known as the Shakahola massacre, remains one of Kenya's deadliest religious cult tragedies.