Shakahola Massacre

In March 2023, William Branham's "Message" cult leader Paul Mackenzie ordered that men, women, and children should commit suicide through starvation[1] in a Shakahola village in Malindi, Kenya.  The massacre was to be carried out in three phases: children would die first, then women, and men last.  The Government declared this event to be a massacre,[2] and became known as the Shakahola Massacre or the Malindi Massacre.

Starving was taking place in phases, in which the first phase was to starve children to death, then the second phase was to starve women to death and the final phase was for the men[3]
- Francis Wanje, Whistleblower

A small group of men in the cult acted as enforcers, digging shallow graves and watching over the starving cult members[4] as they died slow and agonizing deaths in plain view of other members.[5]  Francis Wanje, a whistleblower for the cult, reported the massacre to authorities in Kenya on March 17, 2023.  When authorities began to investigate, an initial 150 shallow graves were found.[6]  The investigation is currently ongoing.  By April 28 the number of confirmed deaths rose to 109.[7]

Mackenzie informed cult members that "the fast would count only if they gathered together, and offered them his farm as a fasting venue. They were not to mingle with anyone from the 'outside' world if they wanted to go to heaven and were to destroy all documents given by the government, including national IDs and birth certificates."[8]