2023-07-19 20:14:31
The balance of the “Shakahola massacre”, the name of a forest in Kenya where an evangelical sect that practiced extreme fasting met, rose to 403 deaths – cut to Monday, July 17 – after the discovery of 12 new bodies, he announced. a regional official.
“Our medical-legal team was able to exhume 12 bodies today,” Monday, the prefect of the coastal region, Rhoda Onyancha, told the press, adding in a message to Agencia AFP that the “total balance” is “403 dead ”.
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The authorities expect the balance to increase, as the search for mass graves continues in a large area of the Kenyan coast, about three months after the discovery of the first victims.
Police believe most of the exhumed bodies are those of followers of the Good News International Church, created by self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, who advocated fasting until death to “meet Jesus.” .
This former taxi driver has been detained since April 14 and will be prosecuted, among other things, for “terrorism.”
Another 16 people are accused of belonging to a group of men in charge of ensuring that no adherent breaks the fast or escapes from the forest, located near the coastal city of Malindi.
The autopsies carried out so far revealed that most of the victims died of starvation, after listening to a few prayers. Some of the victims, including children, were strangled, beaten or suffocated, according to autopsies.
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The Minister of the Interior announced that the Shakahola forest will be declared a “place of memory”.
Last month, justice began proceedings for “suicide attempt” against 65 followers who refused to eat after being taken from the forest.
These processes were condemned by groups defending human rights. The NGO Kenya National Human Rights Commission denounced an “inappropriate decision (which) will traumatize survivors when they desperately need understanding.”
Debate for control of cults in Kenya
The massacre sent shockwaves across Kenya and brought criticism to authorities for failing to stop Pastor Mackenzie, who had earlier been arrested for his extreme preaching.
In March he had been released on bail after being accused of the death by starvation of two children who were in the custody of their parents, related to the sect.
Before the Senate committee on July 11, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki denounced the lax attitude of the local police after the first cases of hunger were reported in Shakahola.
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The judicial authorities that released the pastor after the previous arrests were also criticized. “The Shakahola massacre is the worst security failure in the history of our country,” he said, and advocated for legal reforms “to control criminal preachers.”
The case also revived the debate on the control of cults in Kenya, a country with a Christian majority that has 4,000 “churches”, according to official figures.
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