Three more bodies, 26 graves found in Pastor Mackenzie cult probe

Some of the bodies that have been exhumed by police officers at Shakahola in Malindi, Kilifi County on April 21, 2023. [Marion Kithi,Standard] Police have exhumed three more bodies of people believed to be followers of controversial Pastor Paul Mackenzie. The bodies were today exhumed from two freshly marked graves in Shakahola village, Malindi. Two the bodies, a woman and a girl, were first to be retrieved. They had been buried facing each other. The third body of a teenager was exhumed in an adjacent grave at the same homestead christened Bethlehem. Detectives have so far discovered 26 graves taking the number of graves discovered on the farm to 58. Police say the graves contain remains of the members belkieved to be of the Good News International Church which is led by Mackenzie. The cleric is already in police custody after a Malindi Magistrate Court allowed the police to detain him for 15 days to conclude investigations into the alleged cult-like church. Mackenzie is said to have directed his followers to fast and die so that they can meet Jesus, which led them to starve to death. He maintains that the allegations against him are false while insisting that he closed his church in 2019. Detectives have rescued 17 people, who were severely malnourished, they told Police that they were followers of Mackenzie and his Church. The exercise by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations officers (DCI) which saw them comb more than 800 acres was led by the head of the Homicide Unit Martin Nyaguto. Some of the bodies that have been exhumed by police officers at Shakahola in Malindi, Kilifi County. [Marion Kithi, Standard] "The graves were sunken after the rains because they were shallow and it was easy to identify," said Charles Kamau, Malindi DCIO. Pathologists will take samples of DNA and conduct tests to ascertain if the deceased succumbed to starvation. Abass Ike Ntunde, a Nigerian citizen was looking for a wife and daughter after they left their Nairobi home two weeks ago and travelled to the remote Kilifi village in search of the pastor and his Church. "My wife and my three-year-old daughter left Nairobi two weeks ago and joined her mother and two sisters who were already in this village," said an alarmed Abass yesterday. He alleged that his wife left her job in the military and sold her land worth Sh7 million and took the money to the church as tithes and offerings. Coast region director of children services George Migosi said children are the most affected victims of the cult. "Most of the graves that were identified were of children because they were the most vulnerable," he said. So far four children were confirmed by police to have died as the exercise continues amid growing fears that the number could rise. Pastor Makenzi is said to have named the affected villages as Nazareth, Bethlehem, and Judea. These villages also have water ponds which Makenzi is believed to have used to baptize his followers before embarking on the fast. In every village, the "man of God" chose security teams and named them "disciples." A human rights activist Mathias Shipeta from Haki Africa urged the government to conduct a thorough search and make sure that all the bodies are exhumed. "We want the bodies to be exhumed and Makenzi's followers to be detained and charged," said another human rights activist Victor Kaudo of Malindi Human Rights.

Three more bodies, 26 graves found in Pastor Mackenzie cult probe

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Three more bodies, 26 graves found in Pastor Mackenzie cult probe

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