Investigators today exhumed ten more bodies and found two bony survivors – Who is Pastor Paul McKenzie, leader of the sect with more than 3,000 members
Fears are growing in Kenya that the number of followers of a sect who fasted to death to go to heaven may be higher, as investigators reopened their work after dozens of bodies were found in mass graves in Sakahola Forest, near the seaside Malindi city.
Kenyan investigators today exhumed ten more bodies from mass graves linked to a sect whose members fasted themselves to death in the belief they would get to heaven, bringing the total number of victims to 83, an AFP reporter on the ground said.
The ten bodies discovered today include three children. Emergency services men dressed in white jumpsuits dug up the remains of the victims from makeshift graves and found two bony survivors, according to the same reporter.
The bodies belonged to members of the International Church of the Good News, led by Paul Mackenzie Dhenge, who called on believers to starve to meet Jesus.
“We believe there are more victims,” police inspector Japhet Qum told reporters yesterday.
It is feared that some followers of the sect may still be hiding in the forest and if not found soon they are in danger of dying.
Bodies of the 58 followers of the Good News International Church in Kenya were exhumed from forests near the church belonging to pastor Paul Makenzie Nthenge, who is in custody and awaiting court appearance pic.twitter.com/V5AJOZdMyM
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) April 24, 2023
Hussein Khalid, executive director of human rights group Haki Africa, the man who tipped off police about the sect, called on authorities to send more rescuers to search the 800-acre forested area for any survivors.
“Every day that passes there is a very high possibility that more people will die,” he told AFP.
Who is the leader of the sect, the “servant of God” Paul Mackenzie Dhenge
As Kenyan authorities try to uncover the true dimensions of the so-called “Sakahola massacre” – after the forest where the dozens of bodies were found – questions are being raised about how the sect could operate without being noticed despite its leader’s preoccupation the police six years ago.
On the website of his organization it is stated that the church “was founded on August 17, 2003 by the servant of God P.N. Mackenzie.” After establishing branches in many areas of Kenya, the International Church of the Good News it is estimated to have more than 3,000 members – 1,000 of them in the coastal city of Malindi.
Paul Mackenzie Dhenge is a former taxi driver who in 2003 declared himself a “pastor” and his extreme preaching led to his arrest twice in recent years.
Police, in a statement on April 14, initially said local authorities intervened after being informed that “innocent citizens were starving to death believing they would meet Jesus, after being brainwashed.” That same night Paul Mackenzie Dhenge, knowing he was wanted, Delivered to the police. He has since been detained and will appear in court on May 2.
He himself, in an interview with local media after the discovery of the mass graves, appeared satisfied and pleased with himself and even burst out laughing when he made claims about a conflict between law and faith.
THEURI: In an interview that followed the discovery of the Shakahola graves, Mr Mackenzi, appearing happy with himself, intermittently burst into a guttural laugh when he made claims about a crash between law and faith
https://t.co/eFIeA6jFo5
— The Standard Digital (@StandardKenya) April 25, 2023
Sermons for the end of the world
Dhenge was broadcasting a program titled “End of the world messages” in which he referred to the “teachings, sermons and prophecies about the end of the world commonly called eschatology”.
He claimed that he “brings the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ free from the deception and wisdom of man.” In 2017, he also started a YouTube channel, where the sermons he preached at his church in Malindi were shown.
Among other things, he warned believers not to follow the practices of the “demon”, such as not wearing wigs and dealing only with cash.
In the same year he was arrested for the first time on the charge of “radicalization” because he preached not to send children to school because schooling is not recognized in the Holy Bible.
He stated that he closed his church two years later and settled in the village of Sakahola, in the forest.
A few days later he was arrested again, on suspicion of the death of two children who starved to death on his orders. He was released on bail of 100,000 shillings (about 670 euros).
A few weeks later, the police found his first victims in the Sakahola forest: 15 skeletal believers, four of whom died on the way to a hospital.
The Kenyan Red Cross says 212 people in Malindi were reported missing to the organization, two of whom have been reunited with their families.
Source :Skai
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