Shakahola cult: 112 postmortems completed, exhumations set to resume
Some of the 26 bodies that were exhumed from a mass grave site at the Shakahola Village in Kilifi County on April 24, 2023.
The government has completed postmortems on 112 bodies found in Shakahola village, Kilifi County, chief pathologist Johansen Oduor announced Friday after conducting the final 12.
Following the end of these initial exams, homicide detectives will, from Saturday, return to the village to exhume more bodies from mass graves, in the probe into cult leader Paul Mackenzie. He is accused of convincing hundreds of his followers to starve themselves to death in order to see God.
Dr Oduor said they will now focus on exhumations, but that this is dependent on weather conditions and the state of the grounds. The exercise was suspended due to heavy rains, hence the start of the postmortems at the Malindi Sub-county Hospital morgue.
Dr Oduor said the majority of the 112 people died from starvation and some strangulation.
Regarding Friday’s postmortems, he explained that they initially had 11 bodies but that an additional one was retrieved on Thursday evening in Shakahola, bringing the count to 12.
"Seven bodies were of men and four of women, while the gender of one could not be determined due to its decomposition level," he said.
Adults numbered more than children, he said, adding five of the bodies had not decomposed much as they were not among those dug out of mass graves. He said one person died of kidney failure after three days of treatment, having been diagnosed with severe malnutrition and dehydration.
The autopsies also revealed that four people died from severe blows to the head.
"Three were found to have had chronic anaemia while two were found to have died from lack of food and water," the pathologist added.
The experts could not identify the causes of the death of two people due to the manner in which the bodies were damaged.
On the identification of bodies, the chief government pathologist said one family positively identified one of the corpses.
"But we still had to take DNA samples to confirm the truth through cross matching," Dr Oduor said, adding 13 families had their DNA samples collected on Friday.
Meanwhile, Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha, speaking at the Shahakola Command Centre, addressed the matter of rescues, saying they had found three adults and five children.
"We have had one rescue from the forest and another from Mikindani in Mombasa, where a family of seven was found – two female adults and five children believed to be followers of Mackenzie," Ms Onyancha said. They were evacuated to Malindi for counselling.
Earlier on Friday, President William Ruto formed a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the Shakahola cult deaths that have shocked the country.
Court of Appeal judge, Justice Jessie Lesiit, will chair the commission whose mandate will be to inquire into the deaths, torture and inhumane and degrading treatment of members and individuals linked to Pastor Paul Mackenzie-led Good News International Church in Malindi, Kilifi County.
The commissioners are Justice (Rtd) Mary Kasango, Dr Frank Njenga (psychiatrist), Mr Eric Gumbo, Bishop Catherine Mutua, Dr Jonathan Lodompui, Mr Wanyama Musiambu and Mr Albert Musasia.
