Kenya Cult Leader's Son Speaks Out as Siblings Rescued from Starvation

The eldest son of Kenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie has revealed that his younger siblings were still being forced to fast just two weeks ago, despite his father's recent murder conviction.

Dan Mackenzie, 27, told the BBC that he alerted police, who rescued eight children including his five younger siblings from their grandmother's home and placed them in a rescue centre.

"They were basically forcibly fasted because they were denying food to them for almost three days," he said.

Paul Mackenzie was convicted Monday of murdering 190 children and one adult who died of starvation in Shakahola forest near Kenya's coast. He had instructed his doomsday cult followers to starve themselves and their children so they could "meet Jesus." Twenty-eight other cult leaders were also convicted.

Dan, who initially defended his father, said he struggled to grasp the allegations at first but came to understand the tragedy's scale during court proceedings. He recalled being forced to fast for nearly a week at age 12 and being beaten for hours to make him attend services.

He said he felt compelled to report family members who still follow the teachings in order to free his siblings. “I had to report my grandmother.”

The cult's doctrine banned education and labelled modern medicine "evil." Dan left school at age seven.

Now living in Malindi, Dan works as a motorcycle taxi driver to support himself and his younger siblings. He said some townspeople were angry at him due to his father's crimes, but others accepted him because he had distanced himself from that life.

Speaking outside court, Stephen Mwiti, 48, who lost all six children to the cult, welcomed the verdict. His former wife was among those convicted alongside Mackenzie.

Justice Diana Mochache delivered an eight-hour judgment in Mombasa, saying followers believed Mackenzie was "Jesus's mouthpiece." One co-accused testified that Mackenzie said anyone resisting fasting must be forced to heaven “through kicks and blows.”

Burials in the forest were described as "weddings," with the dead celebrated as having “wedded with Jesus.”

Mackenzie and other leaders also face separate cases involving terrorism, radicalisation and denying children education.

The murder verdict is the first ruling on the most serious charges against the pastor, arrested in 2023 after more than 400 bodies were found in shallow graves. Sentencing is set for 6 November.