Africa

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 7/11/2026

Kenyan cult leader sentenced to 200 years in prison for murder of 191

NAIROBI, Kenya

A self-proclaimed Kenyan preacher was sentenced to 200 years in prison on Friday for the murder of 190 children and one adult in an infamous starvation cult.

Hundreds of bodies have been discovered since 2023 at the sect's base near the coastal resort of Malindi, in what became known as the "Shakahola Forest Massacre".

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie was accused of inciting his followers to starve themselves to death to "meet Jesus."

Last month, he was convicted of murdering 190 children and one adult between January 2021 and September 2023, alongside 28 co-accused. His lawyer said he would appeal.

On Friday, the court sentenced him to 100 years for the homicide charges and 100 years for the starvation charges.

Twenty-eight accomplices were also sentenced to a variety of lengthy prison terms.

Mackenzie also faces manslaughter and terrorism charges in other trials, which he denies.

The former taxi driver appeared indifferent as he arrived in court on Friday, wearing a polo shirt and sporting a faint smile.

Francis Wanje, a 62-year-old teacher who lost two grandchildren, told AFP he had hoped Mackenzie would be sentenced to death to prevent further tragedies.

"Nothing can ease the pain," said Wanje, who blamed authorities for failing to act swiftly.

"I really have great (anger) towards the authorities. If they had taken action, we would not be here today," he added.

Prosecutors had called for the death penalty, citing the scale of the loss of life and the danger posed by his actions.

Although Kenya's law provides for the death penalty, the country has not carried out an execution since 1987.

Prosecutors also asked the court to sentence Mackenzie's co-accused to life imprisonment, arguing they had "been deeply indoctrinated by Mackenzie and were at risk of reoffending".

Around 120 prosecution witnesses testified during the trial.

According to witnesses, the movement denounced formal education as "satanic", viewed modern medicine and hospitals as instruments of the devil and required followers to cut themselves off from the outside world.

Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after a rights group alerted authorities and some followers were rescued from the 325-hectare ranch in the Shakahola forest on Kenya's coast.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights put the death toll at 429 in 2024. Some victims remain unidentified.

The case has fuelled calls for tighter regulation of religious organisations, after it emerged that Mackenzie had previously been arrested twice but released.

Tanzania court jails opposition leader for incitement, lifts treason charge

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania

A Tanzanian court has jailed opposition leader Tundu Lissu for four years on a charge of incitement.

The ruling was handed down on Friday in a trial closely watched internationally, during which the court dismissed a charge of treason that carried the threat of a death sentence.

“We are satisfied that through his statements, the accused intended to disrupt 2025 elections and instigate violence,” the judge told a courtroom packed with Lissu’s supporters.

“We sentence you to four years in prison but the doors are open for appeal,” the judge added.

Lissu, who heads the main opposition party, Chadema, responded that the trial was “political persecution”, accusing the judges of following orders from the government of President Samia Hassan.

“Excuses were created to imprison me,” he told the court.

“I was not charged with incitement but you judges are convicting me with it just to impress the person who gives you the titles. I believe these were directives,” he said.

Lissu was arrested before last year’s generalel ection, in which Hassan was re-elected, and has spent 19 months in jail.

Security was heightened across the commercial capital, Dar-es-Salaam, and around the court before the verdict, as Lissu’s supporters gathered for the hearing.

The case has drawn criticism from British and European Union lawmakers, who described it as politically motivated and called for Lissu’s immediate release.

Tanzania opposition leader acquitted of treason charges but found guilty of incitement

By Our Correspondent, DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania

Tanzania's High Court has acquitted opposition leader Tundu Lissu of treason charges but found him guilty of incitement, in a major development in a trial that has attracted national and international attention.

The three-judge panel in Dar es Salaam ruled that prosecutors failed to prove a key element of the treason charge against the Chadema chairman.

The judges are still delivering their ruling, with the legal reasoning and sentence for the incitement conviction yet to be announced.

Lissu, who has been in detention since April 2025, had denied the allegations, saying his remarks were part of a legitimate campaign for electoral reforms ahead of last year's disputed general election.