Pastor Paul Mackenzie, the leader of the Good News International Church in Kenya, has warned against prying into his church’s operations.
This comes after he was arrested on April 15, suspected of indoctrinating his followers to starve themselves to death with the belief that they will ascend to heaven. Mackenzie made the warning in a video seen by the Star while in a police car, urging people not to look into the matter as it will come to haunt them.
So far, detectives have exhumed 90 bodies from Mackenzie’s 800-acre piece of land in Shakahola forest, Kilifi County. The bodies were discovered in shallow graves, believed to have been buried after their death.
Thirty-two people have been rescued alive from the mass grave. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, who toured the area, declared the deaths an act of genocide and called for the area to be declared a crime scene. He also said that Mackenzie deserves to rot in jail.
The exhumation will be done by a multi-agency team led by security personnel and humanitarian organizations.
The Kenya Red Cross Society reported that 213 people linked to the controversial pastor are missing, with 112 of them aged below 18 years.
