The first reports about the mass graves in Kenya came on Friday. Police searched Pastor Paul Makenzie Nthenge’s property in Shakahola Forest, south-east Kenya. Nthenge is the pastor of Good News International Church. He was already in the spotlight of the police in March when two children of cult members starved to death. He was nevertheless released on bail, but arrested again on 14 April when the police found four of his disciples dead. The police then took action before the weekend after receiving information that the leader allegedly asked the members to starve to death in order to “meet Jesus”. The members of the Good News International Church are said to have been told that one had to starve to death to meet Jesus. Photo: JOSEPH OKANGA / Reuters There must be several children On the pastor’s property, the police have found several dead. On Saturday, the remains of 21 dead people were found. Since then, there have been new reports of several deaths every day. On Tuesday, the number reached 90, and the search is still ongoing. The entire forest is now cordoned off and marked as a crime scene. Hussein Khalid is the managing director of the legal group Haki Africa who tipped off the police. He tells the AFP news agency that between 50 and 60 percent of the victims are children. – The terrible things we have seen in the last four days are traumatising. Nothing prepares you for shallow mass graves with children, he says. He urges the authorities to send larger forces to search through the large forest area for survivors. – With each passing day, there is a great possibility that more people will die. Forensic experts and investigators are examining the area. Photo: STRINGER / Reuters Shocking the country Good News International Church is therefore led by pastor Nthenge. He has been arrested before. In 2017, he was blamed for radicalization after he encouraged families not to send their children to school. The macabre corpses are now shocking the nation and are also creating new debate around the many religious communities in the country. Large parts of the population belong to religious faith communities in Kenya. President William Ruto has said, among other things, that he will crack down hard on what he calls “unacceptable” religious movements. Fear of finding more graves According to Kenya’s interior minister, Kithure Kindiki, 34 people have been found alive so far in the enormous Shakahola forest. It is also believed that followers of the Good News International Church may still be hiding in the area around Shakahola. There they risk dying if they are not found soon. – We don’t know how many more graves, how many more bodies we will discover, said Kindiki, when he visited the crime scene on Tuesday. According to the BBC, Nthenge has denied that he has done anything wrong. He insists that he closed the church in 2019. He will appear in court on May 2. Kenya’s Minister of Home Affairs, Kithure Kindiki, visits the crime scene. Photo: AP
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