HOW KENYAN CULT LEADER’S GRANDSON REPORTED GRANDMOTHER FOR STARVING SIBLINGS

The eldest son of Kenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie has revealed how he alerted police after learning that his younger siblings were allegedly being forced to go without food at their grandmother’s home.

Dan Mackenzie, 27, said police rescued eight children, including five of his younger siblings, and took them to a rescue centre.

According to his account, the forced fasting continued as recently as two weeks before his father’s murder conviction. He said he reported the situation to protect his siblings from relatives who still followed the cult’s teachings.

Dan is Paul Mackenzie’s son, rather than his grandson, as some descriptions of the story suggest.

His account raises concerns about the continued influence of the teachings linked to the Shakahola tragedy, even after the cult leader’s arrest.

Paul Mackenzie was convicted on October 19 of murdering 190 children and one adult. The court found that he oversaw a system in which followers were compelled to fast until they died.

The case followed the discovery of more than 400 bodies in and around Shakahola forest in 2023. Mackenzie had denied forcing followers to starve.

Dan’s allegations about the children at their grandmother’s home remain separate from the findings in his father’s murder case.