So far, twenty-one bodies have been discovered on land owned by a pastor in Kenya who was arrested after telling his followers to fast until death. More shallow graves have yet to be discovered on the land of pastor Paul Makenzi, who was arrested on April 14 for cult-related charges.
Human Rights Activist at Haki Africa, Khalid Hussein, said: “We can’t have people who just wake up one day in the name of a calling, to drive people on a suicide path.
“Every church, every mosque, every temple and synagogue must belong to a registered structured framework.
A further four people died after they were discovered starving at the Good News International Church.
The investigation followed a tip-off from member of the public.
“We are calling on multi agency team to come in and comb this 800 acres land,” added Hussein.
“The DCI homicide team are doing excellent work and they should be al lowed to continue with that work. But the police, they need support to comb this 800 acre piece of land, so that we can rescue more, and also maybe unearth more mass graves that could be in any of this area that we are in.”
While in police custody, Paul Makenzi has been on hunger strike for the past four days.
The pastor has previously been arrested in connection with the deaths of children, in both 2019 and March of this year. He was released on bail each time, and both cases are still pending in court.
Local politicians have urged the court not to release him this time, citing the spread of cults in the Malindi area as a reason.
Cults are common in Kenya, which has a predominantly religious culture.