This Tuesday, Paul Nthenge Mackenzieleader of a Kenyan sect that forced hundreds of his followers to death, was accused along with 29 other alleged associates of killing 191 children.
The evidence is convincing and terrifying: the bodies were found buried last year in a forest in the south of the country. Mackenzie and his group are said to have convinced around 430 people to fast to die and, as a result, meet Jesus.
Mackenzie’s associates denied their allegations before a High Court judge in the coastal town of Malindi. Mugure Thande. A lawyer for the cult leader, James Moukoargued in court that the number of charges is “overwhelming and violates the defendant’s constitutional rights.”
The Office of the Public Prosecutor (ODPP, sigals in English), led in the hearing by the public prosecutor Vittorio Mulo, opposed releasing the suspects on bail. “The matter at hand is complex and the suspects should not be released on bail,” Mule said.
The perpetrator of the “Shakahola massacre”
This is the third time Kenyan authorities have brought charges against the alleged leaders of the Mackenzie sect, who already face charges of terrorism and manslaughter of at least 238 people.
Mackenzie on the bench in May 2023. Photo: AFPMackenzie is the alleged person responsible for what is known as “Shakahola massacre“, referring to the name of the forest in coastal Kilifi county where authorities found most of the nearly 430 bodies of his followers, many of them children, in mass graves and graves.
The religious leader allegedly convinced the faithful of his church to fast until death, with the promise that they would meet Jesus.
Subsequent autopsies showed that, in addition to the traces of hunger on all bodiessome even had it signs of strangulation and suffocation.
Holes are seen dug after exhuming bodies in the mass grave where a cult was believed to have practiced mass starvation in Shakahola. Photo: AFPThus, from the police investigations it appears that the faithful were forced to continue the fast even if they wanted to abandon it.
Kenyan authorities arrested Mackenzie on April 14 and he has since been detained alongside nearly thirty co-defendants.
On January 31, the Kenyan Ministry of the Interior designated its sect, the International Church of the Good Newsas an organized criminal group.
Mackenzie was arrested on April 14, 2023. Photo: REUTERSource: EFE
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.