Today in Africa — Nov. 6, 2026: Kenyan Cult Leader Paul Mackenzie Gets 200 Years in Prison; First Refugee Team Competes at the Youth Olympics

Mackenzie was arrested in 2023 after more than 400 bodies were found in shallow graves in Shakahola forest near the coast. The convictions cover only 191 victims. He also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism charges, which he denies.

The judge found the deaths came from an organized system of religious teachings and directives. Followers who resisted were beaten to death, burials were called "weddings," and most victims died of starvation, while others died of suffocation, strangulation, or head injuries.

Mackenzie founded Good News International Ministries in 2003. His sermons called education "evil" and healthcare "against the doctrine," and he moved to Shakahola forest after his main church shut down in 2019.

Francis Wanje, who lost eight relatives including two grandchildren, reported the case to police in March 2023 and said he expected them to act immediately to rescue members. Investigations by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights found local officials and law enforcement repeatedly turned a blind eye to the cult.

Mackenzie had been arrested before and released for lack of evidence. President William Ruto set up a commission of inquiry, which was later declared unconstitutional.

Judoka Arno Yafunga, 15, fled conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a young child, and his family went to Kenya in 2017. His father, Arnold, coaches him. Arno lost the bronze medal match in the boys' 55-kilogram division, with his five teammates cheering him on. He now lives in Nairobi and said judo keeps him away from "bad gangs."

Sprinter Florence Masumbe, 16, was born in DR Congo and grew up in Uganda's Rwamwanja refugee settlement. Game Connect found her through a program that uses sport to improve mental health and bring refugees and host communities together. The 200-meter runner said she hopes to show "refugees can succeed and win too."

Arnold found a judo club beside Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp and kept up the sport he loved since childhood. He hopes his son's path continues to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and said, "Being a refugee also allows you to dream of great things."

More than 117 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced at the end of 2025, including 39 million in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the UN refugee agency.

Eastern DR Congo, where Arno's family lived, has been plagued for decades by fighting between government forces and more than 100 armed groups, including the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. It is one of the world's most significant humanitarian crises, with millions displaced.

In 1953, Barnor opened the Ever Young studio in Accra's Jamestown district, where people from students and shop assistants to politicians and judges posed for portraits.

He moved to Britain in 1959 and studied at Medway College of Art. He later worked as a color printer and for Drum, the South African magazine known for its anti-apartheid reporting. He documented London's African diaspora in the 1960s.

His fashion photography of Black models and celebrities, shot on London's streets, appeared on Drum covers and in its fashion pages. It gave Black Londoners a prominence mainstream magazines often denied them.

After training with film manufacturer Agfa-Gevaert in Belgium and Germany, he returned to Ghana in 1970 and helped set up the country's first commercial color-processing laboratory.

His work has been shown at London's Serpentine Gallery, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and New York's Museum of Modern Art. It is also held in collections at Tate, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Center Pompidou in Paris.