(Nairobi) Ezekiel Odero, one of Kenya’s most influential Protestant pastors, appeared in court on Friday on suspicion of being linked to the ‘Shakahola Massacre’, a case involving the discovery of more than 100 bodies in a forest from the southeast of the country.
The head of the New Life Prayer Center and Church was arrested on Thursday. The prosecution requested that he be kept in detention for an additional 30 days to allow the progress of the investigations.
According to a court document consulted Friday by AFP, the famous televangelist is targeted by investigations for “murder”, “assisted suicide”, “kidnapping”, “radicalization”, “crimes against humanity”, “cruelty towards children”, “fraud and money laundering”, among others.
This arrest follows the imprisonment of another pastor, Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, accused of having pushed his followers to fast until death “to meet Jesus”.
More than 30 mass graves have so far been discovered in the Shakahola forest, about 80 kilometers from the coastal town of Malindi where Ezekiel Odero was based. Search operations were suspended on Friday due to bad weather.
PHOTO MAARUFU MOHAMED, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pastor Ezekiel Odero escorted by a policeman in Mombasa
According to a still provisional report, at least 109 people died in this “massacre”. But all of them might not be members of Pastor Mackenzie’s Good News International Church.
“Credible Information”
“There is credible information linking the exhumed bodies […] at Shakahola” with “several innocent and vulnerable followers [de l’église d’Odero] who would have died, ”says the Mombasa prosecution in the document consulted by AFP. “The police have established that several murders took place in the compound of the Ministry of New Life” in the locality of Mavueni, not far from Malindi.
Investigators also want to verify information that “after the death of innocent and vulnerable worshipers [d’Odero]their bodies were kept in a private morgue […] before being transported and buried in the forest of Shakahola”.
A former fisherman who became a “pastor” fifteen years ago, Ezekiel Odero is known throughout Kenya.
His YouTube channel has half a million subscribers and he used to draw crowds to his church in Mavueni, which can hold up to 40,000 people.
The wife of Vice President Rigathi Gachagua even appeared at his side in December during one of his “crusades” (giant rally) at the Kasarani stadium in the capital Nairobi, the largest in the country (60,000 seats).
Redesign
This arrest could broaden the investigation into “the Shakahola massacre” which has shaken Kenya for a week, causing horror, misunderstanding and criticism of the authorities.
PHOTO YASUYOSHI CHIBA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
View of a mass grave in the Shakahola Forest
As of Monday, President William Ruto promised action against those “who want to use religion to promote shady and unacceptable ideologies”, comparing Paul Mackenzie to a “terrorist”.
Visiting the Shakahola forest for the second time in less than a week, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki announced on Friday a major reshuffle within the region’s security services with the transfer of key officials, without further ado. Retail.
The Kenya Communications Authority has suspended two television channels associated with Ezekiel Odero and Paul Mackenzie Nthenge for broadcasting “inappropriate content”, including exorcism.
The authorities have been under fire from critics since the revelation of the “massacre”.
Paul Mackenzie Nthenge had indeed been arrested in 2017, accused of “radicalization” because he advocated not sending children to school, then again last March, after the death of two starving children by their parents linked to the sect.
He had been released each time. In prison after surrendering to the police on April 14, he is due to appear in court on May 2.