The death toll from the “massacre” in a forest in southeastern Kenya, where a sect whose leader advocated fasting to “meet Jesus” was meeting, has now risen to 201 after the discovery of 22 new bodies over the weekend, the region’s prefect announced, security officers and operatives stand next to holes after exhuming bodies at the mass-grave site in Shakahola.
At the heart of the “massacre” is Pastor Paul Mackenzie, a controversial preacher at Good News International Church who indoctrinated his followers, asking them to abandon “earthly life” and meet at his 325-hectare (800-acre) farm in a village called Shakahola in Kilifi County for a fast “to meet Jesus”.
Police believe that most of the bodies discovered near the coastal town of Malindi are those of followers of the sect of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, a former cab driver, and self-proclaimed “pastor” of the Good News International Church that he created.
Paul Mackenzie has since himself surrendered to the authorities on April 14, after the police discovered the first victims in the Shakahola forest. About 50 mass graves have been discovered since then. The massacre has rekindled the debate over the regulation of religious worship in Kenya, a predominantly Christian country with over 4,000 “churches,” according to official figures.
President William Ruto responded by setting up a task force to “review the legal and regulatory framework governing religious organizations in Kenya.
