Pastor Ng’ang’a Blasts Mackenzie’s 200-Year Sentence: ‘An Agent of Satan Using Jesus’s Name’

Outspoken Kenyan preacher Pastor James Ng’ang’a has delivered a scathing reaction to the landmark 200-year prison sentence handed down to doomsday cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie.

High Court Judge Diana Kavedza Mochache sentenced Mackenzie at the Mombasa Law Courts after convicting him and 28 co-accused on 191 counts of murder.

‘Even Hanging Would Not Be Enough’

The 73-year-old preacher did not hold back his outrage over the Shakahola Forest starvation deaths, arguing that a prison term alone could not match the scale of the tragedy.

“Jaji hapo hata ungemhukumu kunyongwa tu aende mtu anaambia watu wafunge yeye hakufi, agent wa shetani anatumia jina la Yesu,” Ng’ang’a said.

Ng’ang’a questioned the doctrine that drove followers into fatal fasting while their leader emerged unscathed, condemning the manipulation of religious language for destructive ends.

“Yesu gani huyo? Eh Yesu gani huyo? Watu wafunge wakufe waende mbinguni,” he added.

Warning to False Prophets

Addressing the broader rise of deceptive religious leaders, Ng’ang’a urged preachers to abandon falsehoods and theatrics, warning that accountability is inevitable.

“Utavuna kule ulikopanda. Waongo muache uongo. Me I don’t support dramas. Manabii wa uongo.”

When asked about potential legal scrutiny aimed at himself, the veteran preacher was dismissive.

“Me, I’m 73. Hata ukanifuga hiyo mimi nitakuwa tu niko nyumbani tu.”

The Shakahola Tragedy by the Numbers

The ruling follows one of the most extensive criminal investigations in Kenya’s modern history, with mass shallow graves uncovered across Mackenzie’s remote compound in Kilifi County.

• Bodies exhumed: 429 victims recovered from Shakahola Forest
• Murder convictions: 191 counts — 190 children and 1 adult
• Sentence: 100 years for murder by starvation, 100 years for direct homicide
• Prosecution witnesses: 120 testified during proceedings

Family Disputes Verdict

While residents of Furunzi village welcomed the strict judgment, Mackenzie’s extended family in Machakos County disputed the findings and announced plans to appeal.

His son, Dan Mackenzie, said defying his father’s movement early in life spared him from the tragedy.

“Escaping this cult was just rebellious. I didn’t want to join or go to church when I was a kid. So, he just gave up on me and it didn’t involve me to go to Shakahola,” he said.

Mackenzie still faces separate legal proceedings over terrorism and additional deaths linked to his movement.