Death toll in Shakahola starvation cult rises to 90 as Kindiki visits

Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kithure Kindiki has termed the Shakahola cult massacre a turning point for Kenya on how to handle security issues caused by religious insurgents. 

This comes as Kilifi cult death toll hit 90 after seven more bodies were exhumed including that of a child found in one grave in a forest in Shakahola on Tuesday afternoon. 

On Tuesday alone, 17 bodies were exhumed.

"This was a misuse of fundamental rights of freedom with the purported use of the Bible to kill and cause a massacre. Those who urged others to fast and die were eating and drinking and they purported to prepare them to meet their creator," the CS said after he landed at the farm Tuesday afternoon.

Also read: I lost my three sons to Shakahola cult, distraught Kisumu father says

He said Mackenzie and his collaborators will have a date with destiny and must pay dearly for the lives lost and pain caused to humanity.

The CS said State is also investigating another suspected cult in the same Kilifi County using religion to dupe Kenyans.

"We have cast the net wider to another religious organisation here in Kilifi. We have opened a formal inquiry on this religious group and we are getting crucial leads that perhaps  what was being done by Mackenzie is a tip of the iceberg," Prof Kindiki says

On Tuesday morning, police found 10 more bodies, being people thought to be followers of a Christian cult who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves. 

The total number of deaths attributed to the cult led by Paul Mackenzie now stands at 89, including the eight victims who died after they were rescued in a police raid that lifted the lid on the horrors at the church.

Police on Tuesday rescued two women who were severely malnourished and appeared to be on the brink of death. They were rushed to Malindi Hospital for treatment. 

Of the 10 bodies found on Tuesday morning, five were found buried in one grave while the other five were at separate sites.

Homicide detectives have since last week been searching for graves on the 800 acres belonging to Mackenzie.

The cult leader was arrested on April 14 following a tip-off that suggested the existence of shallow graves containing the bodies of some of his followers. 

Mackenize, leader of the Good News International Church, appeared before Malindi Chief Magistrate Elizabeth Usui on April 17 and was not required to plead to any charge, with the prosecution seeking 30 more days to hold him as they complete the investigations. The court granted police 14 days,

He was arraigned alongside 13 other people in the case that will be mentioned on May 2.