Tragedy strikes Kenya with deadly starvation cult

In an incident showing how powerful the trade in religion is, close to 100 dead bodies have been exhumed in a graveyard owned by a controversial cult leader in Shakahola forest near Kenya's coastal Kilifi County.

Kenyan authorities so far exhumed 89 dead bodies from the forest where they starved to death in the belief that they would meet Jesus Christ after having been indoctrinated by controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie.

As of April 24, a total of 212 people had been reported missing, including 99 men and 113 women, the Red Cross in Kenya announced, noting that two of those missing were rescued before losing their lives.

Three days later, Hassan Musa, regional manager of the Kenya Red Cross, told AFP that the number of reported missing people rose to 311, including 150 minors.

As the number of dead bodies from Shakahola piled up to extent that the county’s facilities were filled to capacity, a refrigerated container was brought from Nairobi in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Red Cross added in another statement on April 27.

Local media reported that the survivors of this cult said they were promised a good life to meet Jesus. Mackenzie also convinced his followers to sell their assets and bring money to him and then asked them to start their dry fasting until their death.

Meanwhile, Sister for Justice, a women's rights’ organization in Kenya, said that some followers refused to have aid to save their lives and insisted on fasting to death.

Jane Mwende, a Kenyan citizen, told Jusoor Post, “This is just Satanism and has nothing to do with Christianity. It's a cult.”

The Mombasa Pastors Fellowship condemned Mackenzie’s actions, saying in a statement on April 27, “We disassociate ourselves and condemn, in the strongest terms possible, the acts of Mr. Mackenzie. We don’t even want to call him a pastor.”

They affirmed that this case is an “isolated one”, as the country has laws that can be used and forced to take action against Mackenzie.

Who is Paul Mackenzie?

Despite this shocking incident and the increasing number of exhumed bodies, Mackenzie was released after being arrested due to the lack of evidence. He denied all accusations against him. Mackenzie’s brother, Robert, also defended him in comments to The Citizen on April 25, claiming that Mackenzie stopped preaching in 2019 and started farming. 

Mackenzie, who was brought to the town of Malindi in southeastern Kenya, worked as a taxi driver before becoming a pastor for the Good News International Church, which follows the teachings of the “End Time Message of William Branham,” reported Kenyan website Pulse Live.

Mackenzie was a member of some churches in Malindi where he was dismissed several times for differences with the owners of these churches, The Citizen added.

In 2003, he founded his ministry in Kenya, opening branches in Nairobi and along the coast and serving more than 3,000 followers. 

He was arrested in March 2023 after two children were starved to death but was then released on bail of $700. 

Other local media reported that a Kenyan lawmaker claimed that Mackenzie’s two wives also starved to death and he buried them.

More pastors under microscope

The “Shakahola Forest Massacre” as it was dubbed in the media enlarged the circle of police scrutiny of priests in Kenya. Rhoda Onyancha, the Coast Regional Commissioner, told reporters on April 27 that another pastor was arrested for investigations into the deaths of some churchgoers who were seeking healing, The South African reported.

The head of the New Life Prayer Center and Church, pastor Ezekiel Odero, was arrested on accusations of “indoctrination and deaths,” TUKO reported.

In her comments to Jusoor Post, Jane Mwende added that several Kenyans (Christians and Muslims) visit Odero's church for “miracles” for healing.

“Sick people are taken to his church for prayers, so reports say several have died in his church when they don't receive the healing. He doesn't tell people to starve to death,” Mwende added.

She clarified that 80 percent of Kenyans are Christians, “so many people believe that when they are prayed for by some of those powerful pastors, they will receive miracles.”

As Odero is believed to perform miracles, people from different African countries go there “for all sorts of miracles to receive healing, for marital problems, and for barren women to receive children,” Mwende continued, saying a Muslim woman said in a video on social media that she went to Odero and was cured from HIV, although the truth of her claim has not been confirmed.

Other preachers called upon the citizens to think reasonably before doing anything. Fr. Kelvin Ugwu, an influential Nigerian Catholic priest on a mission in Gambia, for instance, said, “To practice religion does not mean you should suspend your reasoning.”

“Because religion is very powerful, it is very dangerous when it is left unchecked. It is more dangerous if the minister takes all the decisions and can't be called to account or has no authority to question his excesses or errors,” he added on a Facebook page on April 25.