Kenyan cult leader to remain in prison after more than 100 followers die


Paul Mackenzie, 50, a Kenyan cult leader accused of ordering his followers of the members of the Good News International Church to starve themselves to death in Shakahola forest, appears at Malindi Law Courts, in Malindi, Kenya, May 2, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer

NAIROBI (Reuters) -A Kenyan cult leader accused of ordering his followers to starve themselves to death will be detained by police until a hearing on Friday, a court ruled on Tuesday as investigators searched for more bodies in a forest where 101 corpses have already been unearthed.

Kenyan authorities say the dead were members of the Good News International Church led by Paul Mackenzie, 50, who had predicted the world would end on April 15 and ordered his followers to kill themselves to be the first to go to heaven.

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