Shakahola graves: Number of bodies exhumed rises by five to 150
Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha addresses the press on May 11, 2023, following exhumations on land linked to cult leader Paul Mackenzie, in Shakahola village, Kilifi County.
Five more bodies were exhumed Thursday, as part of the probe into cult leader Paul Mackenzie, raising the number found so far to 150.
Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha gave this update at a press conference, noting this was the lowest number of bodies exhumed since the exercise kicked off last month.
Ms Onyancha also announced that two male adults were rescued today, both of them in stable condition, bringing the total number of those rescued to 72.
She added that the number of people reported missing continued to increases, standing at 594 as of Thursday, and that the number of DNA samples collected remained at 93.
Fourteen individuals have been reunited with their families.
Related: 'I got A- in KCSE, but my mother, a Mackenzie follower, disapproved of my university education'
The second phase of the Shakahola forest exhumations kicked off on Tuesday, with 21 bodies found.
On Wednesday, police reported exhuming another 11 bodies and rescuing two people found in Shakahola forest.
Police believe most of the bodies are of Mackenzie’s followers, whom he allegedly ordered to starve to death “to meet Jesus”.
While starvation appears to be the main cause of death, some of the victims — including children — were strangled, bludgeoned to death or suffocated, according to Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor.
Investigations by Nation revealed that grave sites previously mapped out by homicide detectives are yet to be processed. This comes after another site suspected to be a mass grave was identified. Last month, detectives led by Homicide Unit chief Martin Nyuguto identified 32 grave sites.
