Pastors appear before Kenyan court after being accused of deaths of at least 109 people who were found buried

Two pastors have been accused of being responsible for the deaths of at least 109 people, whose bodies were found buried in mass graves in a forest close to the Indian Ocean coastal town of Malindi, Kenya. The incident, dubbed the ‘Shakahola forest massacre,’ has shocked the deeply religious nation, where the majority of the population is Christian.

The self-styled pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, who founded the Good News International Church in 2003, has been accused of inciting cult members to starve themselves to death ‘to meet Jesus.’ Mackenzie and eight other defendants appeared in court in Malindi on May 2, where they were met by relatives of the victims. George Kariuki, Mackenzie’s lawyer, stated that they had not been informed of the prosecution’s application.

According to reports, most of the victims were children, and starvation was the cause of death, although some were asphyxiated. In another case related to the Shakahola forest massacre, the wealthy televangelist Ezekiel Odero has been accused of a range of crimes, including aiding suicide, kidnapping, radicalisation, child abuse, fraud, money laundering, and crimes against humanity.

The prosecution is requesting a 30-day extension of Odero’s detention, citing reliable evidence linking the murders of several followers of Odero’s New Life Prayer Centre and Church to the bodies discovered in the forest.

The prosecution alleges that Mackenzie and Odero have a connection due to their ‘history of business investments,’ which includes a television station broadcasting ‘radicalised messages’ to followers. It has been questioned how Mackenzie, known for his extremist views, has managed to evade arrest despite his high profile and previous legal challenges.

In response to the tragedy, President William Ruto has intervened in Kenya’s internal religious movements to draw attention to the failure of measures to control fraudulent churches and cults involved in illicit activities. Ruto has appointed a task team to determine the best way to regulate religious activities in Kenya, which has approximately 4,000 churches, according to Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki.