More bodies discovered after Pastor instructed members to fast to meet Jesus
More bodies discovered after Pastor instructed members to fast to meet Jesus: In a shocking discovery,
Kenyan investigators have exhumed 10 more bodies from mass graves linked to a church cult, bringing
the total number of victims to 83. The Good News International Church, led by Paul Mackenzie Nthenge,
had urged its followers to starve themselves to death in order to find God. Police have been scouring the
Shakahola forest near the coastal town of Malindi since receiving a tip-off about the church cult.
The 10 bodies recovered on Tuesday included three children, as emergency workers exhumed their
remains from shallow graves and also found two emaciated survivors.
Nthenge, the leader of the cult, was arrested after police received a tip-off that his vast land on the
Shakahola forest in the Kilifi County of eastern Kenya contained mass graves. Police clad in overalls
have been scouring the site since Friday, and the number of bodies discovered has been increasing each day.
The grim discovery has sent shockwaves through the country, prompting President William Ruto to pledge a crackdown on “unacceptable” religious movements.
More bodies discovered after Pastor instructed members to fast to meet Jesus: the bodies
As the fatalities mounted, authorities at the state-run Malindi Sub-County Hospital warned that the
morgue was running out of space to store the bodies and was already operating well over capacity.
The hospital mortuary has a capacity of 40 bodies, according to the hospital’s administrator, Said Ali,
who added that officials had reached out to the Kenya Red Cross for refrigerated containers.
It is believed that some followers of the Good News International Church could still be hiding in the bush around Shakahola and at risk of death if not quickly found.
Hussein Khalid, executive director of the rights group Haki Africa that tipped off the police, urged the authorities to send more rescuers to scour the 325-hectare (800-acre) area of woodland for survivors. “Each day that passes by, there is a very high possibility that more are dying,” he told AFP. “The horror that we have seen over the last four days is traumatizing. Nothing prepares you for shallow mass graves of children.”
the investigations
Investigators told AFP they found bodies squeezed into shallow pits with up to six people inside one grave, while others were simply left outside on the ground. Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome told reporters on Monday that 29 people had been rescued and taken to the hospital. The discovery of the mass graves has raised concerns about religious movements in the country, and the government has promised to take action against such groups.