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The leader of a Kenyan cult suspected of encouraging more than 400 members to starve to death has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in one of the worst mass cult deaths ever.
Paul McKenzie, who calls himself a pastor, appeared in court on Monday in the coastal city of Mombasa along with 94 other suspects.
Mr McKenzie was arrested in April last year after 429 bodies, including children, were dug up from a mass grave in Shakahora, a remote forest about two hours’ drive west of Malindi town. Most of the bodies showed signs of starvation and beatings.
“There has never been a case of manslaughter like this in Kenya,” prosecutor Alexander Jami Yamina told AFP.
Prosecutors said more than 400 witnesses will testify in the next four days.
Mr Yamina said the case was unique in Kenya and the suspects would be prosecuted under laws regarding suicide pacts.
Kenyans were shocked last year when the case, dubbed the “Shakahora massacre,” came to light that people were willing to starve themselves to death.
Mr McKenzie allegedly told his followers that if they stopped eating they would get to heaven faster.
Mr McKenzie faces two other trials: one on terrorism charges that began in July and another on child abuse charges, including torture, assault, child abuse and violating children’s rights to an education – charges he denies.
Survivors said that under the horrific order drawn up by MacKenzie, children were to go on hunger strike first, followed by unmarried people, women, men and finally church leaders.
Mr McKenzie founded Good News International Church in 2003 but said he closed it in 2019.
He encouraged his followers to prepare for the end of the world by heading to the Shakahora Forest to “meet Jesus.”
Pastor McKenzie reportedly owns 800 acres of land in the remote forest, where there is no mobile network.
The forest was divided into different regions and given biblical place names such as Judea, Bethlehem, and Nazareth.
In March, authorities returned some of the victims’ remains to their relatives after months of DNA testing to confirm their identities. So far, 34 bodies have been returned.
Mr. McKenzie declared that formal education was evil and was used to extort money.
In 2017 and 2018, he was arrested for encouraging children not to go to school because he claimed that education was “not recognized in the Bible.”
He also allegedly encouraged mothers to avoid medical care during childbirth and not to vaccinate their children.
Last November, Mr McKenzie was sentenced to a year in prison for illegally operating a film studio linked to his mission and distributing films without a valid filming permit.
Kenya is a deeply religious country where 85 percent of the population is Christian. There have been cases of people being lured into dangerous, unregulated churches or cults before.
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