Police began an investigation amid reports that the cult’s followers believed they would go to heaven if they starved to death.
Kenyan police have exhumed dozens of bodies from shallow graves in the country’s east amid an investigation into followers of a Christian cult that believes they go to heaven if they starve to death.
Information provided by officials put the number of bodies exhumed up to 47, according to media reports on Sunday.
“Today we have unearthed 26 more bodies and this brings the total number of bodies from the area to 47,” said the head of criminal investigations in Malindi, eastern Kenya, Charles Kamau.
He said the search continues not only for the bodies but also for the survivors of the cult, some of whom are still refusing to eat.
The police launched their operation after the first bodies were discovered last week, and the exhumation of the bodies began on Friday from the 325-hectare (800-acre) area of the Shakahola forest, near Malindi in Kilifi county.
Kenya’s Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki announced he would visit the site on Tuesday and referred to the shocking discovery as the “Shakahola Forest Massacre” in a tweet on Sunday.
Malindi sub-county police chief John Kemboi said several shallow graves have yet to be dug on land owned by pastor and cult leader Paul Mackenzie, who was arrested on April 14 for cult affiliation.
Kenya’s NTV channel reported that Mackenzie has been on hunger strike in his cell since his arrest last week.
Police said 15 surviving worshipers were told to starve themselves to death so they could meet their maker. Four of them died before they reached the hospital.
Controversial Kilifi cult leader Paul Mackenzie has staged a hunger strike inside police cells. https://t.co/MUqHQwsTpU
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) April 22, 2023
Rescued but refused to eat
One church member found by authorities was refusing food despite clearly being in physical distress, said Hussein Khalid, a member of Haki Africa, the rights group that notified police of actions of the church.
“Once he was brought here, he absolutely refused to be given first aid and he kept his mouth shut, basically refusing to be helped, wanting to continue his fast until he died,” Khalid told the news agency. in AFP.
Khalid said he believes there are members of the church still hiding from the authorities in the nearby forest.
“This signifies the enormity of this issue, which clearly shows that there are many more out there… and potentially dying every second that passes.”
He called on the government to send soldiers to help in the search to find the believers before they starve to death.
Ruth Dama Masha, executive committee member for social services in Kilifi county where the graves were discovered, also said that some members of the cult who were saved from starvation refused to eat.
“So we have a lot to do and try to change their thinking because I feel that some of them have become radicalized,” he said.
Dama Masha said the suspected cult leader preyed on vulnerable people as most of the bodies recovered so far were women and children.
“If you look at those who have been exhumed, most are women and children. There are a couple of men who have been exhumed but most are women and children,” he told Al Jazeera.
‘Severe punishment’
Interior Minister Kindiki said in his tweet on Sunday that the entire forest has been cordoned off by the police and declared a “crime scene”.
In his tweet, the minister said the incident was “the most obvious abuse of the constitution covered by the human right to freedom of worship”.
“While the State remains respectful of religious freedom”, those responsible should face “severe punishment”, he said.
There should be “stricter regulation (including self-regulation) of every church, mosque, temple or synagogue going forward”, he added.
The unfolding Shakahola Forest Massacre is the most blatant abuse of the constitutionally enshrined human right to freedom of worship. Prima facie, major crimes under Kenyan law as well as international law have been committed. While the State remains respectful of the religious…
— Kithure Kindiki (@KindikiKithure) April 23, 2023
Mackenzie has been arrested twice before, in 2019 and in March of this year, in connection with the deaths of children. Each time, he was released on bond, and both cases are still in court.
Last month, police arrested Mackenzie for encouraging the parents of two boys to starve and starve their children to death.
During a court appearance in the case, Mackenzie said he was unaware of the events that led to the deaths of the two boys, adding that he was the target of counter-propaganda from some of his former colleagues, the The Standard newspaper reported.
Kenyan media reported that six of Mackenzie’s associates were also arrested.
Local politicians urged the court not to release him this time, criticizing the spread of cults in the Malindi area.
Cults are common in Kenya, which has a predominantly religious society.