Kenya cult leader on trial for manslaughter over hundreds of deaths

The leader of a Kenyan starvation sect went on trial on Monday for manslaughter over the deaths of more than 400 of his followers in one of the world's worst cult-related tragedies.

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and dozens of other suspects pleaded not guilty in January to multiple counts of manslaughter, one of several cases against them over what is known as the " Shakahola Forest Massacre ".

Mackenzie appeared in a magistrate's court in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa along with 94 other suspects, prosecutors and court officials said.

"There has never been a manslaughter case like this in Kenya," prosecutor Alexander Jami Yamina told AFP, adding that they will be charged under a Kenyan law dealing with suicide pacts.

"This is going to be a very unique manslaughter case."

At least 420 witnesses have been prepared by the prosecutors, with the hearing scheduled to run for four days.

"Due to the gravity of the case, we have prepared well," Yamina said.

Mackenzie is alleged to have incited his followers to starve to death in order to "meet Jesus" in a case that provoked horror in Kenya and across the world.

The 55 men and 40 women went on trial last month on charges of terrorism over the Shakahola massacre, and also face separate cases of murder and child torture and cruelty relating to the deaths, which prosecutors say occurred over the years 2020 to 2023.

Mackenzie was arrested in April last year after several bodies were first discovered in the remote Shakahola forest that lies inland from the Indian Ocean town of Malindi.

Rescuers spent many months searching the scrubland and have now unearthed around 440 bodies from mass graves.