“Kenyan Cult Leader Leaves Members to Die of Hunger: Police Uncover 47 Bodies”

In one grave were the bodies of five members of one family, three children and their two parents. The bodies are now being investigated to see if it was cause of death by starvation. However, Victor Kaudo of the Malind Center for Social Justice was sure there would be more victims. “When we entered the forest and came to an area where we saw a large cross, we knew that meant more than five people were buried there,” he said.

The police, who have already found graves at the farm, were alerted to the activities of the sect by the human rights protection organization Haki Afrika. Its member Husayn Khalid called on the police to quickly search for any other followers of the sect: “There are still many who can die any second”.

The sectarians completely believed Mackenzi’s words, as shown by the tragic case of the girl who was found on the pastor’s farm after being tipped off by the organization. 15 severely malnourished people were taken from it in mid-April. The girl who was among them resisted accepting help. “The moment they were brought in, she absolutely refused first aid and kept her mouth tightly shut. She refused help, wishing to continue fasting until her death,” Khalid told the paper The Guardian. She became one of the four rescued, but eventually died.

Makenzie Nthenge surrendered to the authorities last month when two children who believed in him died at their parents’ home. He refused to eat and drink in custody and was eventually released on bail of 100,000 Kenyan shillings (about 16,000 crowns). He claimed that he dissolved his church already in 2019. At the same time, local politicians called on him not to be released, so that his cult does not spread. The police also demanded an extension of the detention.

At the same time, investigators began looking for cultists when they got the informationthat “citizens who have been brainwashed by the suspect are starving to death to meet Jesus.”

Nthenge was arrested again on April 15 after the discovery of four bodies. A total of six people linked to the sect are now in custody, according to local media.

Home Affairs Minister Kithure Kindiki plans to visit the scene on Tuesday. He rejects criticism that the police have deployed a small force and therefore cultists can continue to die: “Enough security personnel have been deployed around and the entire 325-hectare forest is cordoned off and marked as a crime scene.”

However, it takes time to search such a large forest.

“The massacre in Shakahole forest is the clearest abuse of the constitutional right to freedom of religion,” the minister said.

According to him, the state continues to respect freedom of religion, but despite this, there is a need to tighten the regulation of every “church and mosque, temple or synagogue”.