Shakahola: How security agents averted more death
It took an apocalyptic moment for the then little-known Shakahola forest in Kilifi county to become synonymous with religious extremism and deaths. The horrendous discovery of hundreds of shallow graves and emaciated people last year, including the bodies of children who were starved to death, thrust the 800-acre piece of land into global ignominy.
Entire families were wiped out and those who were rescued said the sole reason for starving was “to meet Jesus”.
Yet for a forest more than 500km from Nairobi, it took a “serious incident of national security threat” to receive the limelight. While the incident remains one of the worst tragedies in Kenya, the story of how security officers acting on intelligence averted further deaths by their swift actions remains untold.
During the operation, then Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki declared the ranch as a “disturbed area and an operation zone”, paving way for detectives to seal it off as a scene of crime.
Following the incident, police arrested 94 suspects, including the leader, Pastor Paul Mackenzie, of the Good News International Ministries. They are currently facing several charges in court.
The government has since declared Mackenzie’s church an organised criminal group.
The CS and Internal Security Principal Secretary, Raymond Omollo, commissioned construction of security roads in Shakahola to open access into the ranch.
“Without the logistical support availed by the government to police officers, it would have been difficult to know the extent of the deaths,” a detective based at the Homicide Unit at the DCI (Directorate of Criminal Investigations) headquarters has told us.
The operation was carried out on both ground and air, with clear instructions to rescue victims still holed up in the forest. During the process, three groups each consisting of pathologists, grave-diggers, morticians, crime scene officers and officers from the DCI combed the vast area.
According to Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Odour, exhumations were done concurrently by the groups. Each group also had a human rights representative and public health official.
Genetic profiling
The excavation involved marking parameters around a grave and digging up the soil progressively and slowly to a level where the soil was looser. Utmost care was then applied by removing soil on top and around the body until the body was pedestalled.
We tried to be as scientific as possible because we know when you exhume you need to preserve the body as much as possible so that first of all you can ensure that no evidence is lost,” he said.
Through DNA profiling, a total of 66 victims were positively identified.
In the aftermath of the Shakahola tragedy, the Government Chemist played a key role in identifying the victims. As of January 2024, their meticulous work led to the positive identification of 40 victims, bringing some measure of closure to grieving families.
“The DNA testing was essential, especially given the advanced decomposition of many bodies, ” PS Omollo said.
The government has also said that all regulatory measures will be put in place to deter a similar incident in future.
In May last year, President Ruto instituted a 17-member taskforce to review legal and regulatory frameworks governing religious organisations, and identify gaps that have allowed extremist religious organisations to set up shop in Kenya. The taskforce presented its findings on July 30 this year.
