Grieving parents wait for word about their children

Detectives exhume bodies from shallow graves in pastor Paul Mackenzie's piece of land in Shakahola, Kilifi County on April 25, 2023. [Kevin Macharia, Standard] Scholastica Siria, 67, who hails from Musanda village, Mumias East constituency, has been praying day and night for her four grandchildren whom she claims went missing two weeks together with their mother. Ms Siria said a neighbour of her son who lives in Kaloleni, Nairobi, confided to her that her daughter-in-law, Maureen Ajayi, travelled with the children to Malindi after the Easter holidays. "She told me that Ajayi and the children had gone to Malindi with the intention of joining the Good News International Church owned by Pastor Makenzi who is currently in police custody," she said. Siria said Ms Ajayi had earlier lied to her husband that she was going to visit her parents in Siaya County only to confess later that she had gone to Malindi for special prayers with her children. "My son was annoyed and reprimanded his wife for opting to travel with the children all the way to Malindi," Siria told The Standard. "I suspect my daughter-in-law joined the church in 2018, the year she declared that her children would not get polio vaccination. She even started advocating against children going to school and seeking medication. She was also against people working. At one point, she was arrested and later released after her church intervened." According to Siria, her daughter-in-law could not be reached through her cell phone days after she travelled, causing panic and anxiety in the family. Her missing grandsons are Samwel Masakhwe,12, John Omuholo, 9, Jeremiah Clement Amawah, 5, and the youngest Scholastica Rubi aged two years. Police combing the Shakahola property rescued Ajayi, who is five months pregnant, four days ago. She was alive, but unconscious, and is receiving treatment at Malindi Sub-County Hospital. Her husband travelled to Malindi to be with her and try to trace the children. Asked about the whereabouts of the children, Ajayi is said to have asked her husband for time to recover before she could get answer from Makenzi. "At first, she claimed to have left the children with one of the church members as she embarked on a fasting mission on the expansive bush farm," said Siria. The grandmother wondered how Makenzi was allowed to brainwash people as security agencies, including the National Intelligence Service, police and local administration watched. Another grieving parent, Benson Omari from Mwitoti village in Mumias East constituency, said his son, a Form Two student who had stopped going to school, refused to eat and died two weeks ago. "My son, Ian Mukumbu, and his three other siblings were introduced to Pastor Makenzi by his elder brother Felix Mutimba in 2019 while he was a first-year student at Kibabii University," he said. Mr Omari, 48, blamed the State's laxity for his son's death. "The government relented in efforts to stop that pastor from conducting his activities at Shakahola." Three of his sons are among several other captives of the pastor rescued by the police at the Shakahola farm. "My elder and younger son are still missing even after reporting to police following the first raid in 2021. What we are seeing is police and State agencies doing little to address an issue that should never have been allowed to happen," said Omari. He urged the government to regulate preachers and churches in order to prevent similar tragedies from recurring. In Malava constituency, Simon Ingutia, a father of five, is eagerly waiting to reunite with his two daughters whom he alleged were stolen by his estranged wife last month. She is a member of Makenzi's church, according to Mr Ingutia. He reported the incident at Kakamega Central Police Station where 10 suspects were arrested while worshipping in one of the churches in Kakamega town. Police also recovered items belonging to children at the church. "The suspects confessed that my estranged wife was a member of their church but indicated that she had already travelled to an unknown place. Police would later free the suspects while promising to intensify their investigations into the matter," he said. Ingutia said his wife was among those rescued by police at Shakahola. "However, the children are still missing," he said.

Grieving parents wait for word about their children

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