Pastor Paul Mackenzie Likely to Face Genocide Charges over Shakahola Massacre

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki says Pastor Paul Mackenzie could be charged with genocide for brainwashing people to fast to death in Shakahola forest, Kilifi County.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 89 bodies of people believed to have starved to death on instructions of Mackenzie had been exhumed from shallow graves on land said to be owned by the preacher.

“We are doing everything possible to ensure that Mackenzie gets the harshest punishment. I am impressed that the Director of Public Prosecutions has indicated that he is exploring charging him and his associates with terrorism but that is not enough,” Kindiki said during a visit to Shakahola forest scene.

“It is also possible to charge Mackenzie with genocide because of the magnitude of this crime. We are exploring all the (legal) books available.”

On Tuesday, police and social workers dug out 16 more bodies from mass graves linked to Mackenzie’s cult, bringing the total number of victims to 89.

Authorities suspect more followers of Mackenzie’s Good News International Church are still fasting inside the vast forest and are at risk of death if not quickly found.

Hussein Khalid, executive director of the rights group Haki Africa that tipped off the police, urged the government to send more rescuers to comb the 800-acre area of woodland for survivors.

“Each day that passes by there is very high possibility that more are dying. The horror that we have seen over the last four days is traumatizing. Nothing prepares you for shallow mass graves of children,” he told AFP. 

Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome said on Monday that 29 people had been rescued and taken to hospital.

The Kenya Red Cross said 212 people had been reported missing to its support staff in Malindi, out of which two were reunited with their families.

Mackenzie, who is in police custody as investigations continue, had been arrested in 2017 for radicalizing locals by urging them to withdraw their children from school, claiming that education was not recognized by the Bible.