Tue 06 February 2024:
Kenya’s High Court in Malindi charged cult leader Paul Mackenzie on Tuesday with the murders of 191 children whose bodies were unearthed from the Shakahola forest.
Survivors and victims’ families have said Paul Mackenzie urged followers to fast in order to “go see Jesus”.
Mackenzie and 29 other defendants rejected the charges when they faced presiding judge Lady Justice Mugure Thande.
One suspect, Evans Sirwa, was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.
The charges stem from the discovery of more than 400 bodies in the Shakahola forest — a site linked to the activities of the Shakahola cult, which was a church led by Mackenzie.
The cult’s practices involved coercing followers of the Good News International Church into starvation with a promise of a spiritual afterlife in heaven with Jesus.
The bodies were subsequently buried in shallow graves on an 800-acre area in Shakahola where they were discovered last April.
Shakahola is sparsely populated and now under 24-hour police guard. The authorities have declared it a crime scene and access is forbidden.
Initially, the worshippers would travel there and return home. But from late 2022, the followers claim, they were not allowed to leave.
Investigations have revealed that some of the victims were found with missing organs, fueling suspicions of a human organ trafficking syndicate within the cult.
The cult preached against modern medicine and urged members not to vaccinate children.
Mackenzie and his alleged associates have been in police custody since last April when he surrendered to the authorities following the discovery of bodies in the forest.
They denied forcing anyone to starve. At one point, Mackenzie complained to the court that police had denied him food while he was being held.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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