Kenya starvation cult death toll climbs to 179
Dug holes are seen after exhuming bodies at the mass-grave site in Shakahola, outside the coastal town of Malindi, on April 25, 2023.PHOTO/ AFP
What you need to know:
- Heavy rains had stalled the search and exhumation operation last week.
Kenyan investigators unearthed 29 more bodies on Friday bringing the number of victims linked to a doomsday starvation cult to 179, many of them children.
Police believe most of the bodies found in a forest near the Indian Ocean town of Malindi belong to followers of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, a taxi driver-turned-preacher who is accused of inciting them to starve to death "to meet Jesus."
Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha, who announced the latest figures, said no person was rescued on Friday in the vast bushland.
Heavy rains had stalled the search and exhumation operation last week with the exercise resuming on Tuesday.
Some 25 people -- including Mackenzie and an "enforcer gang" tasked with ensuring that no one broke their fast or left the forest hideout alive -- are in police custody, Onyancha said.
Mackenzie has not yet been required to enter a plea but a court ordered on Wednesday that he be detained for three more weeks pending further investigations over what has been dubbed the "Shakahola Forest Massacre".
The 50-year-old founder of the Good News International Church turned himself in on April 14 after police acting on a tip-off first entered Shakahola forest.
While starvation appears to be the main cause of death, some of the victims -- including children -- were strangled, beaten or suffocated, according to chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor.
Court documents filed on Monday said some of the corpses had their organs removed, with police alleging the suspects were engaged in forced harvesting of body parts.
But Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki urged caution, telling reporters on Tuesday that "it is a theory we are investigating."
The case has stunned Kenyans and led President William Ruto to set up a commission of inquiry into the deaths and a task force to review regulations governing religious bodies.
Another pastor accused of links to Mackenzie and to the bodies found in the forest was released on bail at a court hearing last week.
