Paul Mackenzie, the leader of the Shakahola cult that reportedly convinced its followers to starve to death in order to meet their "maker", may face terror related charges.
Speaking while presiding over the pass-out parade for 222 cadet officers, including 84 women and 138 men who graduated following a one-year training at the Ruiru Prison Staff Training College in Kiambu County, President William Ruto likened the cult’s activities to those of terrorists who use religion to radicalise people into adopting extreme behaviours.
He said people who pretend to be religious leaders while engaging in activities that go against the teachings and beliefs of their respective religions, whether Christian, Muslim or any other faith, should be imprisoned.
“What we are seeing in Kilifi in Shakahola is akin to terrorism. Terrorists use religion to advance their heinous acts. People like him are using religion to do exactly the same thing,” said President Ruto.
He said investigative agencies have been instructed to take up the matter and get to the root cause of the activities of people who want to use religion to advance weird and unacceptable ideologies in the country.
“Those responsible for religious groups that preach against the tenets of the Constitution, seeking medical attention or going to school will be prosecuted and the institutions closed down because they are working against the interests of the people of Kenya.
President William Ruto (left) officially opens the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital’s Cyberknife Centre on Monday April 24. With him are Health CS Susan Nakhumicha (centre) and Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi (right).
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
At the same time, the President directed the ministries of Interior and Urban Development to develop a master plan to identify and establish new, modern prison facilities to address the issue of overcrowding in prisons, particularly those situated in urban centres.
“I note that more than 10 thousand prisoners are serving sentences of three years and below, a further 41 percent of the prison population is awaiting trial for bailable offences, all these people need not be incarcerated.
“It is important for stakeholders in the justice ecosystem to seriously implement alternative dispute resolutions for relatively minor sentences,” the President said.
Furthermore, the government plans to support a mechanisation programme for all prison farms across the country, as well as an enterprise modernisation programme aimed at enhancing revenue generation for the service and increasing inmates’ participation in skill-building activities while incarcerated.
“We are going to provide, as I committed, 67 new tractors and other equipment that will enable the prison department to put under production 8,000 acres to produce maze, rice, vegetables and other produce that will support government’s programmes on food sufficiency,” Dr Ruto said.
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki said there were plans to expand the training college to increase its capacity to train beyond fresh recruits and officer cadets.
“We intend to introduce leadership programmes for officers above the rank of inspector that will help us generate the rightful command and ensure there is proper succession management in the prison service,” said Prof Kindiki.
