2023-05-18 10:06:22
The balance sheet of « Massacre de Shakahola » in a forest in southeastern Kenya, where a sect met whose leader advocated fasting to “Meet Jesus”, now stands at 226 dead after the discovery Wednesday, May 17 of 15 new bodies, announced the prefect of the region. Police believe most of the bodies discovered near the coastal town of Malindi are those of followers of the cult of Paul Mackenzie, a self-proclaimed former taxi driver « pasteur » of the Good News International Church he founded.
Following Wednesday’s operations, “14 bodies were exhumed and one was found in the forest”, said the prefect of the region, Rhoda Onyancha, adding that another person had been found alive by the emergency services. It appears from the autopsies carried out on the first 112 bodies that most of the victims died of starvation, probably after having followed the sermons of Paul Mackenzie, who will be prosecuted for “terrorism”.
However, some victims, including children, were strangled, beaten or suffocated, forensic operations chief Johansen Oduor said two weeks ago. Autopsies also revealed that there were “organs missing from some of the bodies”underlines the directory of criminal investigations in a judicial document consulted on May 9 by AFP, evoking “a well-coordinated trafficking in human organs involving several actors”.
4,000 “churches”
Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki had urged caution over the matter, saying it was“a theory we are investigating”. “Morgue reports are still being finalized and I don’t want to pre-empt the case”he continued.
Paul Mackenzie has been detained since turning himself in to authorities on April 14, after police discovered the first victims in Shakahola Forest. About fifty mass graves have since been discovered.
Kenya’s most influential pastor, Ezekiel Odero, was arrested April 28 in connection with the case and later released on bail. He is under investigation because of the possible presence of bodies of some of his followers among the bodies found at Shakahola. More than 20 bank accounts belonging to him have been frozen.
This massacre caused a great stir in this religious country in East Africa and revived the debate on the supervision of worship in Kenya, a predominantly Christian country with 4,000 “churches”, according to official figures. President William Ruto created a task force to “review of the legal and regulatory framework governing religious organizations”.
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