The dead rise to 65 on the grounds of a religious sect leader in Kenya

Ruto calls Mackenzie a “terrorist”

24 (EUROPA PRESS)

Kenyan Police have found 26 more bodies buried in mass graves on land owned by Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, a self-proclaimed sect leader from Kilifi County, on the country’s coast, currently in jail on suspicion of influencing his followers. followers to fast to death, causing a total of 65 deaths.

Specifically, the total number of bodies exhumed in the area, of more than 300 hectares, which is closed and is being investigated as a crime scene, has risen to 65. The Police have also arrested a man who has been identified as a co-perpetrator. intellectual and ally of Mackenzie, as reported by the newspaper ‘The Nation’.

The detainee, identified as Pastor Zablon wa Yesu, has been found reading a Bible on the extensive land where the investigations have been carried out since last Friday. The Police have also rescued nine people who were fasting, five of them in critical condition who have already been transferred to a nearby hospital.

Mackenzie, head of the so-called International Church of Good News, turned himself in for the first time to police last month, after two children died of starvation in front of their parents, members of the sect. After being released on bail, he was arrested again on April 15.

Kenyan Home Minister Kithure Kindiki, who will visit the town on Tuesday, has opened the door to further regulation of places of worship in the country following the discovery of the massacre in the area.

Meanwhile, several government officials have come to Shakahola during the day, including Police Inspector General Japhet Koome, Criminal Investigations Director Amin Mohamed and Public Prosecution Director Nurdin Haji.

Sooner, the president of Kenya, William Ruto, has affirmed that what has been witnessed in the place is “similar to terrorism”. “Mackenzie, who acts as a pastor, is in fact a terrible criminal,” he said, adding that “terrorists use religion to promote their heinous acts,” according to the aforementioned media.