Twelve bodies were found on Monday, July 17, in the Shakahola forest, Kenya, where an evangelical sect was meeting and practicing extreme fasting, bringing the toll of this macabre scandal to 403, announced the prefect of the region, Rhoda Onyancha.
Authorities expect the death toll to rise further. Searches for mass graves are still ongoing across a large area of ??forest and scrub along the Kenyan coast, nearly three months after the first victims were discovered in what has been dubbed the “Shakahola Forest Massacre”.
Police believe most of the bodies exhumed are those of followers of the Good News International Church, founded and led by self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie. The latter advocated fasting until death to “meet Jesus”. This former taxi driver has been in detention since April 14 and will be prosecuted in particular for “terrorism”.
Autopsies performed so far have revealed that most of the victims died of starvation, presumably after listening to his sermons. Some victims, including children, were however strangled, beaten or suffocated, according to these autopsies.
Already arrested for his extreme preaching
Sixteen other people are accused of being part of a group of “thugs” responsible for ensuring that no follower breaks their fast or escapes from the forest, located near the coastal town of Malindi.
Justice has also brought charges for “attempted suicide” against 65 followers who refused to eat after being taken out of the forest. These lawsuits have been condemned by human rights groups. The NGO Kenya National Human Rights Commission denounced an “inappropriate decision [which] will traumatize survivors at a time when they desperately need empathy”.
This massacre has placed the country’s authorities under fire for not having prevented the actions of “Pastor” Mackenzie, yet arrested several times for his extreme preaching. In March, he was released on bail despite charges against him after two children died of starvation in the care of their cult-linked parents.
He also revived the debate on the supervision of worship, in this predominantly Christian country which has 4,000 “Churches”, according to official figures. Following this tragedy, President William Ruto, himself a fervent Protestant supported by evangelical circles when elected in August 2022, created a working group responsible for “reviewing the legal and regulatory framework governing religious organizations”.
The government has announced its intention to make Shakahola Forest a “place of remembrance so that Kenyans and the world will not forget what happened”.
