Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, Christian pastor of the Good News International Church in Kenya is under investigation after police discovered a series of shallow graves, with dozens of bodies being exhumed.
Kenyan Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki has described these developments as “the clearest abuse of the constitutionally enshrined human right to freedom of worship,” while Kenyan President William Ruto said this was “akin to terrorism, adding “Terrorists use religion to advance their heinous acts.”
Here’s what has come to light thus far:
What happened?
Mackenzie allegedly lured “his followers to the ranch near the coastal town,” and “told them to fast until death in order to meet Jesus before burying them in shallow graves spread across his land.”
Mackenzie is now in custody
On April 14, Mackenzie was arrested and is in the custody of the police “after the authorities rescued more than 15 people from his property, four of whom were in critical condition and died soon after,” but this isn’t Mackenzie’s first arrest. He’s been arrested on two prior occasions surrounding children’s deaths, but each time was released out on bond.
Over half of the deaths are listed as children
More victims are expected to be uncovered, and according to the Red Cross, there have been at least 213 people who have been reported as missing, with the latest death count at 90, and between 50-60% of the deaths are being listed as children.
Hundreds of acres of forest are blocked off and morgues are at capacity
800 acres of forest in the town of Malindi have been blocked off as teams are being deployed by the National Park Service to investigate, in what is being called the “Shakahola Forest Massacre.”
The morgues are currently at capacity, and as the fatalities continue to increase, search efforts have had to be put on hold until after autopsies are finished.
Executive director of Haki Africa, Hussein Khalid, the rights group who originally provided the tip to police, stated “The horror that we have seen over the last four days is traumatizing. Nothing prepares you for shallow mass graves of children.”
To date, this is the worst case recorded in Kenya for “cult” deaths, and the numbers continue to rise. President Ruto has pledged to act against those like Mackenzie “who wants to use religion to advance weird, unacceptable ideology.”