“We have many graves”, Kindiki Says
Kithure Kindiki, the interior cabinet secretary, described the deaths of the Shakahola cult members as a well organized crime.
The exhumations were delayed last week due to inclement weather, and the minister made the remarks on Tuesday after traveling to Malindi to oversee their restart.
“I am afraid we have many graves,” the Prof Kindiki said adding that digging out of the graves may take longer than initially expected.
“The damage is quite significant, 20 mass graves are currently being opened. The process is far from over,” the CS said.
Prof. Kindiki also said during the press conference that detectives are focusing their attention on potential accomplices of Kilifi-based cult leader Paul Mackenzie.
The “Shakahola forest massacre” has left the nation in shock with the discovery of mass graves last month.
The majority of the bodies, according to the police, are believed to be those of Mackenzie’s followers who were allegedly told to starve to death “to meet Jesus.”
“We have many graves”, Kindiki Says
According to the leading government pathologist Johansen Oduor, although malnutrition appears to be the primary cause of death, some of the deceased, including children, were strangled, beaten, or suffocated.
Some of the corpses had their organs removed, according to court records filed on Monday. Police claim the suspects were involved in forced harvesting of body parts.
Chief inspector Martin Munene stated in an affidavit submitted to a Nairobi court that “post mortem reports have established missing organs in some of the bodies of victims who have been exhumed.”
It is “believed that trade on human body organs has been well coordinated involving several players,” he said, giving no details about the suspected trafficking.
Munene claimed that prominent televangelist Ezekiel Odero, who was released on bail on Thursday after being detained in connection with the same case last month, had received “huge cash transactions,” purportedly from Mackenzie’s followers who had sold their property at the cult leader’s direction.
More than 20 bank accounts connected to Odero must be frozen for 30 days, according to a Nairobi court’s decision.
According to Prof. Kindiki, 112 persons have now been officially pronounced deceased.