A Kenyan court is set to deliver a judgement in a mass murder case involving doomsday preacher Paul Mackenzie.
asserted
court → set → Mackenzie
Mackenzie and 29 of his followers are being charged with the murder of 191 children.
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Mackenzie → charge → children
His cult is alleged to have forced children to starve to death so that they could "meet Jesus".
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they → allege → Jesus
His doomsday doctrine said that education was forbidden and modern medicine was considered "evil".
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medicine → say → ?
Mackenzie and the 29 others have all pleaded not guilty to murder, repeatedly insisting that nobody was forced to die.
Mackenzie's former head of security, Enos Amanya Ngala, was initially accused but then entered a plea deal and became a witness for the prosecution.
Mackenzie and other leaders of the cult are facing a raft of other legal cases, including for terrorism, radicalisation and denying education to children.
But this is the first time the pastor will face a verdict on the most serious charges of murder.
Authorities said over 400 bodies were found in shallow graves in Shakahola forest near the Kenyan coast, where Mackenzie led his followers from across the country.
Seventeen men were hired from the nearby town for the horrifying task of digging up the shallow graves.
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men → plead → graves
Some were paid just $8 (£6) a day.
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Some → pay → 8
"Every grave we found had at least three bodies," James, one of the gravediggers, told the BBC.
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James → find → BBC
"We once found 12 bodies of children in a line inside a grave.
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We → find → grave
It was massive, the bodies were arranged like clothes.
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bodies → arrange → clothes
Gravediggers described some of the bodies of children as having had their "hands and legs tied and bodies wrapped in bedsheets".
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bodies → describe → bedsheets
Although many of Mackenzie's followers were from elsewhere in Kenya, some of the remains are of people who were familiar to the community because the people in the cult would often go to nearby Shakahola town for supplies and to fetch water from the River Galana which flows through the town.
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which → go → town
"We would sometimes carry people on our motorbikes into the forest," said Salim Karisa, another gravedigger.
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Karisa → carry → forest
"But it was so planned and secretive that nobody could tell what was happening inside."
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what → tell → ?
Stephen Mwiti, 48, recounted losing all six of his children to the cult and seeing "many bald women and tens of children" surrounding Mackenzie in his house when he went to confront him.
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he → recount → him
Mackenzie forbade make-up and hairstyles, so told women to shave off their hair or keep it unkempt.
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Mackenzie → forbid → it
Mwiti's former wife is one of those accused alongside Mackenzie.
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wife → accuse → Mackenzie
"If I met Pastor Mackenzie today, one of us will have to die," told the BBC.
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one → meet → BBC
"All six of my children died in Shakahola forest," Mwiti said, visibly emotional holding a photograph of his family.
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Mwiti → die → family
"I only found and buried the remains of my son Samuel.
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I → find → son
"This little thing here was the start of all my misery," Mwiti said as he pointed at a dusty TV and cable box in his home in the coastal town of Malindi, 70km (43 miles) from Shakahola.
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he → say → Shakahola
It was from that TV that Mackenzie's doctrine made it to his home.
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doctrine → make → home
The pastor established Good News International Ministries in 2003.
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pastor → establish → 2003
Over the next 16 years, the church grew in popularity to draw thousands of followers in the church's branches across Kenya.
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church → grow → Kenya
His church ran a television station called Times TV which would broadcast his sermons from his church in Malindi.
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which → run → Malindi
His End Days sermons included conspiracy theories that described education as "evil", healthcare as "against the doctrine" and digital identity cards as "the mark of the devil".
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that → include → devil
Mackenzie's son, Dan Paul Mackenzie, said he worked as a cameraperson in the church.
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he → say → church
"The children would sit at the back, adults in the middle, and everyone would sing worship songs all morning."
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everyone → sit → songs
The pastor would start his fiery sermons at noon, some of which included "casting out demons".
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some → start → demons
The main church shut down in 2019 and Paul Mackenzie moved to Shakahola forest, encouraging his devotees to follow him.
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Mackenzie → shut → him
Peter Shukrani, 23, says his mother relocated to Shakahola with him at the time.
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mother → say → time
He started going to Mackenzie's church when he was eight years old and described him as his "spiritual father", adding that he would "never say a bad word about him".
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he → start → him
When in the forest, Shukrani fell ill and his condition deteriorated because medication was banned.
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medication → fall → forest
"My mother would throw away all the medicine I was supposed to take because she believe that only God could heal me," Shukrani said.
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Shukrani → throw → me
The community was described as mud houses scattered across the vast forest.
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community → describe → forest
"We lived a quiet normal life, fasting for a few days then having a small meal," Shukrani said.
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Shukrani → live → meal
By March 2023 when the first remains were discovered by local herders, hundreds of people had died.
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hundreds → discover → people
"We would carry someone out of the forest but they were so frail that they would die in our arms," explained Salim Karisa, one of the gravediggers.
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Karisa → carry → gravediggers
Shukrani was one of the men rescued from the forest in March 2023.
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Shukrani → rescue → March
He was ill and bed-ridden for weeks until that point, but his condition worsened because his mother would throw away all the medication he needed to recover.
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he → worsen → medication
"My mother believed Pastor Mackenzie's doctrine that medicine was evil," Shukrani said.
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Shukrani → believe → doctrine
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
