A Kenyan court is set to deliver a judgement today in a mass murder case involving doomsday preacher Paul Mackenzie. Mackenzie and 29 of his followers are charged with the murder of 191 children.
Prosecutors allege that Mackenzie's cult forced children to starve to death. The doomsday doctrine reportedly forbade education and considered modern medicine "evil". Mackenzie and the 29 co-accused have pleaded not guilty to murder, stating that no one was forced to die.
Authorities reported finding over 400 bodies in shallow graves in Shakahola forest near the Kenyan coast. Mackenzie's former head of security, Enos Amanya Ngala, initially accused, became a prosecution witness after a plea deal.
Mackenzie and other cult leaders are facing additional legal cases, including charges for terrorism, radicalisation, and denying education to children. This verdict marks the first time the pastor will face a judgement on the murder charges.