95 Shakahola massacre suspects to face nine charges in court

In a statement on Tuesday, the investigative branch stated that the 95, among them the main suspect Pastor Paul Mackenzie, shall be presented before the High Court and Subordinate Court.

The suspects will be facing a plethora of charges which include murder, manslaughter and assault causing bodily harm, offences under the Penal Code Cap 63.

They will also be charged with engaging in organized criminal activity, radicalization and facilitating the commission of a terrorist act all violations under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2012 and the Prevention of Organized Crimes Act, 2010.

Under the offences in the Children Act, 200l; the Prevention of Torture Act, 2017 and the Basic Education Act, 2013, the suspects will be charged with subjecting a child to torture, cruelty to a child and infringing a child's right to education.

On January 9, the state was given 14 days to file charges against Pastor Mackenzie and 17 other suspects linked to the massacre.

Senior Principal Magistrate Y.Shikanda's ruling at the Shanzu court intimated that the suspects linked to the cult deaths have been in custody for a record 117 days since the application for extension of custodial orders was filed and have yet to be charged.

The 117-day detention, according to the Magistrate, was the longest in Kenyan history, or at least since the adoption of the 2010 constitution.

Over 420 bodies of Mackenzie’s doomsday cult, where followers were urged to starve themselves to death in order to ‘meet Jesus’ had been exhumed as of November 21, 2023.