(Nairobi) Kenyan investigators discovered 29 more bodies on Friday, bringing to 179 the death toll of the “Shakahola massacre” in a forest in southeastern Kenya, where a sect whose leader advocated fasting to “meet Jesus “.
Police believe most of the bodies found near the coastal town of Malindi are those of followers of the sect of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, a former taxi driver and self-proclaimed “pastor” of the International Church of Good News (Good News International Church) which he created.
The prefect of the region Rhoda Onyancha, who announced the latest assessment, added that no one had been rescued on Friday in this wooded region.
Heavy rains interrupted search and exhumation operations last week, which did not resume until Tuesday.
Some 25 people, including Mr Mackenzie and thugs responsible for checking that no follower broke their fast or escaped from the forest, were arrested, according to Mrme Onyancha.
A court on Wednesday ordered the continued detention of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie.
The judge in Mombasa (southeast) ordered the extension of the detention of “Pastor” Mackenzie and 17 co-defendants, including his wife, for a period of 30 days from May 2, date on which they had appeared before the tribunal. The 50-year-old “pastor” surrendered to the police on April 14.
It appears from the autopsies carried out on the first bodies that most of the victims died of starvation, probably after having followed the sermons of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie.
However, some victims, including children, were strangled, beaten or suffocated, forensic operations chief Johansen Oduor said recently.
The autopsies also revealed that there were “missing organs on some of the bodies”, according to the Directory of Criminal Investigations which evokes “a well-coordinated human organ trafficking involving several actors”.
However, Home Secretary Kithure Kindiki urged caution on the matter, saying it was “a theory we are investigating”.
This massacre has revived the debate on the supervision of worship in Kenya, a predominantly Christian country which has 4,000 “churches”, according to official figures.
President William Ruto has created a working group to “review the legal and regulatory framework governing religious organizations”.