Shakahola cult: Man found dead, 4 rescued as search continues
A Shakahola cult survivor is rescued from the forest in Malindi on April 25, 2023.
A man was found dead in Shakahola forest on Saturday and four people resecued as a search for victims continued in the probe into cult leader Paul Mackenzie.
Coast Regional Chief Rhoda Onyancha gave this update, saying the four were two female and two male adults.
The number of bodies exhumed from a vast piece of land linked to Mr Mackenzie on Thursday crossed the 100 mark after detectives found 11 more in mass graves.
The discovery raised the count from 98 to 109, according to a police report and Ms Onyancha.
Coast Regional Coordinator Rhoda Onyancha speaks to the press at the Shakahola command centre on April 29, 2023 amid a search for victims of a cult led by Paul Mackenzie.
Exhumations did not take place from Friday due to heavy rains. The process will resume once the weather improves, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said as he toured the area for the second time this week.
CS Kindiki also announced the redeployment of all police commanders in Kilifi County, saying this would allow a thorough probe into the cult activities.
He said the commanders were from all levels – division, sub-county and county – and all services – the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the National Police Service (NPS) and the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Regarding the redeployment, Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung'aro said some police officers who have overstayed in Kilifi and could have been complicit in the cult's activities should also be transferred.
Senate Speaker Amason Kingi (L) leads senators in a tour of Shakahola, Kilifi County, on April 29, 2023 amid a probe into cult leader Paul Mackenzie.
On Saturday morning, Senate Speaker Amason Kingi led a team of senators in a tour of the Shakahola command centre.
The Speaker commended the multi-agency teams on their work and called for more aerial surveillance by use of both drones and helicopters, which can be landed and used to rescue survivors.
"A focus on search and rescue using helicopters will enable the teams get more survivors," he said. "Drones only spot ... but with choppers we will be able to rescue individuals still within the expansive forest."
Mr Kingi further said the locals knew Mr Mackenzie was in the forest but that there was nothing to raise suspicion about his activities there.
"Were it not for the herders who saw the bodies in the thicket, this massacre would not have been uncovered," he said.
