Shakahola cult suspect Paul Mackenzie and self-styled priestess Shallyne Anindo Temba have been charged with 23 counts of murder as crimes against humanity over 52 cult related deaths that occurred in 2025 at the expansive Kwa Bi Nzaro forest in Kilifi County.
The charges were instituted after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) reviewed the investigation file submitted by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Prosecutors said the evidence gathered meets the threshold for crimes against humanity under Kenyan law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to which Kenya is a signatory.
Mackenzie and Temba have been charged jointly alongside Kahindi Kazungu Garama alias Mlewa, Tom Ochieng Mkonwe alias Thomas, Julius Thuva Luwali and Johnson Gona Richard.
Preacher Paul Mackenzie (left) is facing 23 counts of murder as crimes against humanity over 52 cult related deaths that occurred in 2025 at Kwa Bi Nzaro forest, Kilifi County.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
The High Court in Mombasa heard that the six allegedly orchestrated a series of killings between January and October 2025, targeting followers of the Good News International Church as part of a widespread and systematic attack.
Two other suspects, Charles Mutua Musee alias Mzee Mutua and James Kazungu Kahindi alias Ponda alias Baba Bura, face separate counts as accessories after the fact.
In the first count, Mackenzie, Temba, Garama, Mkonwe, Luwali and Johnson are accused of murder as a crime against humanity, contrary to the laws of Kenya and the Rome Statute.
The charge sheet states that, in furtherance of an organisational policy of the Good News International Church and as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against its members, they knowingly caused the unlawful killing of an unknown child of unascertained gender aged between 10 and 11 years.
Prosecutors allege that the accused acted with knowledge that their actions would result in death. The victim, like others in the indictment, is identified through a grave reference number following exhumation.
Counts two to 23 mirror the first count in structure and substance. In each, the six accused are charged with murder as a crime against humanity involving different child victims aged between six months and 17 years.
In addition to the 23 counts of murder as crimes against humanity, the six face 23 alternative counts of murder under Kenyan law.
In the alternative to count one, the prosecution alleges that they jointly murdered the same unidentified child aged between 10 and 11 years. Counts two to 23 in the alternative replicate the main charges but are framed as ordinary murder offences, with victims similarly aged between six months and 17 years and identified through grave references.
The prosecution alleges that the offences were committed on unknown dates between January and October 2025 at Kwa Bi Nzaro area in Chakama Location, Magarini Sub County, Kilifi County.
Kwa Bi Nzaro cult prime suspect Sharlyne Anindo Temba at the Malindi Law Courts in Kilifi County on September 12, 2025.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
Musee and Kahindi have separately been charged with being accessories to murder after the fact. Musee is accused of harbouring Luwali at his home in Kanyaa village in Mwingi Sub County, knowing that Luwali had committed murder and thereby assisting him to evade arrest.
Kahindi is alleged to have helped Temba, Garama and Mkonwe to escape arrest in Mombasa between July 19 and 21, 2025. All the accused denied the charges when they appeared before the High Court in Mombasa.
The state argued that the killings formed part of a deliberate and systematic attack on church followers, marking one of the most serious cult related mass killings in recent Kenyan history.
The State indicated that it intends to call up to 128 witnesses and undertook to make full disclosure of its evidence within a week. Both the prosecution and the defence agreed not to pursue bond at this stage and instead to fast track the case for an expeditious trial.
The accused were charged after psychiatric assessments found them fit to stand trial over the new murders, which occurred less than 30 kilometres from Shakahola, where more than 450 followers of the outlawed church previously died through fasting between 2021 and 2023.
Last month, Mackenzie and his group were also charged before magistrates’ courts in Shanzu and Mombasa over offences arising from the Kwa Bi Nzaro activities including manslaughter.
In one case, the six are accused of jointly killing 29 victims in pursuance of a suicide pact for the object of their death and that of others not before court. In a separate case before the Shanzu courts, Mackenzie, Temba and six others face radicalisation and terrorism related charges.
The eight are jointly facing six counts linked to alleged organised criminal activity and terrorism related offences. They are accused of being members of a radicalised religious sect described as an organised criminal group that endangered the lives of its followers, leading to at least 52 deaths.
