Kenyan authorities have confirmed that 32 victims and dozens of body parts have been uncovered
Kenyan authorities have uncovered more than 30 bodies in a remote village, in a case tied to an alleged religious cult headed by self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie, Reuters reported on Friday.
Government pathologist Richard Njoroge was cited as confirming that seven bodies were recovered on Thursday in Kwa Binzaro, bringing the total number exhumed in the area over the past week to 32. Forensic teams continue searches, combing dense shrubland for concealed graves.
“We have exhumed seven bodies and also collected 54 body parts which are spread distances away from the graves. So they look like they were spread by, excavated and eaten by wild animals,” the pathologist said.
Kwa Binzaro lies about 30km from Shakahola, where prosecutors say alleged cult leader Mackenzie instructed his followers to starve themselves in anticipation of the end of the world in order to “meet Jesus.”
In 2023, more than 430 bodies were exhumed from dozens of mass graves in the nearby Shakahola forest. Autopsies revealed that most victims had died of starvation, while some, including children, were allegedly beaten or strangled. Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church and self-proclaimed pastor, has been charged in separate cases with terrorism, murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, and child torture and cruelty. He was arrested in April 2023 after police rescued 15 emaciated church members.
At least 11 suspects are being investigated for alleged involvement in organized crime, radicalization, facilitation of terrorism, and murder.
In July, a Malindi court authorized Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations to exhume bodies from shallow graves in the Kwa Binzaro area.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said initial findings suggest victims may have been starved or suffocated under extreme religious practices. Police added that survivors could not account for several missing children, raising suspicions of foul play.
In August, Kenyan Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen linked the graves in Kwa Binzaro to Mackenzie’s cult. Following the mass graves discovered in Shakahola, Kenyan President William Ruto’s government pledged tighter regulation of religious groups and stronger community-based surveillance.
