High Court Judge Justice Diana Kavedza delivered a deeply emotional account of the excruciating suffering endured by 191 victims of the Shakahola massacre, describing the horrific circumstances in which children and an adult lost their lives under the influence of doomsday cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie.
While determining the appropriate sentences against Mackenzie and his co-convicts, Justice Kavedza outlined the ages of the victims, their respective causes of death and the individual responsibility of each convict, emphasising that the punishment must reflect the gravity of the crimes and the vulnerability of those who died.
According to the court’s classification, 161 victims were children below the age of 9½ years, including infants, toddlers and young children. Another 22 victims were aged between 10 and 13 years, while five were aged between 14 and 16½ years. The age of two victims could not be established. The remaining victim was an adult, bringing the total to 191.
On the causes of death, the judge established that 183 victims, comprising 182 children and one adult, died through starvation.
Another eight victims were directly murdered through suffocation, strangulation or bludgeoning after resisting or refusing to die through starvation.
Justice Kavedza explained that the age of each victim was important in assessing their vulnerability, while the cause of death helped the court establish the manner and gravity of the offending.
The judge, however, emphasised that the classifications did not diminish the fact that all the accused persons had been convicted on all 191 murder counts. She noted that the individual sentencing schedule identified the specific charges and punishments imposed on each convict according to their participation and culpability.
In some of the most moving passages of the judgment, Justice Kavedza described the suffering of the victims, particularly infants and young children who endured prolonged starvation and those who were allegedly subjected to direct violence after resisting the orders to die.
The judge singled out a newborn baby who was only 12 days old at the time of death, describing how the infant was denied its mother’s milk from birth and left to suffer while still bearing an unhealed umbilical cord.
She also recounted the suffering of the 161 young children who slowly wasted away, describing their cracked lips, hollow stomachs and desperate cries for food and water.
The judge observed that the children endured prolonged and agonising suffering that no child should ever experience.
She further described the plight of 22 preteen children who were old enough to understand the horror surrounding them but remained helpless as they approached death through starvation.
The court also addressed the eight victims who died through direct acts of homicide after resisting or refusing to comply with the starvation instructions.
Justice Kavedza described how some adolescents who fought to remain alive were allegedly restrained, suffocated, strangled or bludgeoned, turning their determination to survive into a reason for further violence.
Beyond the deaths, Justice Kavedza also highlighted the devastating impact of the massacre on surviving relatives, describing families left with unbearable grief and children deprived of their parents.
The judge recounted the story of an elderly man who lost his two adult sons, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren, leaving him to care for a 10-year-old orphan during his remaining years.
She also described the heartbreaking experience of a mother who watched seven of her children starve to death while her husband allegedly worked alongside the enforcers, preparing meals for those involved in the operation.
The judge questioned the magnitude of the suffering inflicted on families, particularly parents who watched their children die while being denied the opportunity to rescue them.
In her concluding remarks, Justice Kavedza said punishment was not imposed out of malice but out of necessity, identifying deterrence, retribution and the protection of society as key objectives of sentencing.
She emphasised that the law must send a clear warning that no religious leader or authority figure has the right to take innocent lives under the guise of religious teachings.
The judge maintained that the sentences must reflect the seriousness of the crimes and ensure that those responsible are removed from society for the protection of the public.
The Shakahola sentencing marks a significant moment in Kenya’s criminal justice history, with the court seeking to account for the loss of 191 lives while addressing the individual culpability of those convicted.
