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In a shocking case that has rocked Kenya, the court has given authorities 14 days to prosecute an alleged cult leader or he must be released after being held for nine months. Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, a former taxi driver and alleged pastor of the evangelical Good News International Church, is accused of inciting hundreds of his followers to starve themselves “to meet Jesus”.
The case broke last April when human remains were discovered in the Shakahola forest near Malindi, on the country’s coast. Since then, the investigation has been ongoing to determine what really happened in this forest where Mackenzie and his co-defendants allegedly prevented their followers from breaking their fast or escaping.
This alleged killing has sparked incomprehension in a predominantly Christian country like Kenya, which has around 4,000 officially registered “churches” according to government data. However, it is often difficult to regulate unscrupulous churches and cults that engage in criminal activity.
Judge Yusuf Abdallah Shikanda said it was the longest pre-charge detention in the country’s history since the drafting of the Constitution in 2010. He therefore ordered prosecutors to pursue Mackenzie and his 29 co-accused within the next 14 days, failing which they could be released.
In May, prosecutors raised the possibility of prosecuting Mackenzie for “terrorism” the day after the discovery of the first bodies in the forest. So far, 429 bodies have been found. Autopsies revealed that the majority of victims died of starvation, but others, including children, were strangled, beaten or suffocated.
A Senate inquiry committee reported in October that the alleged pastor had previously been indicted in 2017 for his extreme preaching, but that “the justice system failed to deter Paul Mackenzie’s heinous activities at Shakahola.” In 2019, he was accused of having links to the deaths of two children who were allegedly starved, suffocated and buried in a shallow grave in the Shakahola forest. He was released on bail awaiting trial.
This tragic case highlights the challenges Kenya faces in regulating and controlling religious groups and cults that exploit the faith of their followers for criminal purposes. It is essential that measures are taken to protect the population and prevent such events from happening again in the future. Justice must be served and those responsible for this tragedy must be held accountable for their actions.