Kenyan authorities start releasing bodies of doomsday cult members

While beginning to release the remains, crime teams are making a final check to make sure the exhumation is complete and professionally closed, said Kenyan Secretary of the Interior Kithure Kindiki. Authorities had discovered the 429 bodies in the Shakohola forest starting in April 2023. The bodies include those of 191 children. Cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, whose group was called Good News International Ministries, allegedly told members to starve themselves.

What’s next? Kindiki said the Kenyan government will acquire part of the Chakama Ranch where the alleged crimes took place “and build a memorial to remind us of what happened in perpetuity.” He said an investigation could later examine whether public officials contributed to the atrocities in any way.

What is the timeline for releasing the bodies? Only 35 of the bodies have conclusively been identified, and it could take up to ten years to identify and release all of the remains, Reuters reported. Mackenzie and 29 of his associates were charged in February for torturing and murdering the children. They face trial on April 23.

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere and Emma Freire’s report in WORLD Magazine about predatory preaching in Kenya.