”Starved to death to meet Jesus”, 47 bodies recovered by police

As the investigation of a Christian cult leader, Paul Makenzie Nthenge continues, the police in Kenya have exhumed 47 bodies who are believed followed his instruction to “starve to death in order to meet Jesus.”

The bodies of children were reportedly among the corpses recovered near the coastal town of Malindi.

ValidViewNetwork reports that many people in the region do unimaginable things in the name of religion and followership.

Preacher Paul Mackenzie Nthenge is in custody, pending a court appearance.

State broadcaster KBC described him as a “cult leader”, and reported that 58 graves had so far been identified.

One of the graves is believed to contain the bodies of five members of the same family – three children and their parents.

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“We have not even scratched the surface, which gives a clear indication that we are likely to get more bodies by the end of this exercise,” one police source said, referring to exhumations in the Shakahola forest outside the coastal town of Malindi.

Mr Mackenzie has denied any wrongdoing but has been refused bail. He insists that he shut down his church in 2019.

He allegedly told followers to starve themselves in order to “meet Jesus”.

The Kenyan daily The Standard said pathologists will take DNA samples and conduct tests to determine whether the victims died of starvation.

Police arrested Mr Mackenzie on 15 April after discovering the bodies of four people suspected of having starved themselves to death.

Victor Kaudo of the Malindi Social Justice Centre told Citizen TV “when we are in this forest and come to an area where we see a big and tall cross, we know that means more than five people are buried there”.

The preacher allegedly named three villages Nazareth, Bethlehem and Judea and baptised followers in ponds before telling them to fast, The Standard reports.

”The pastor has been arrested twice before, in 2019 and in March of this year due to the deaths of children. Each time, he was released on bond, and both cases are still proceeding through the court.”

Last month police arrested Mackenzie for encouraging the parents of two boys to starve and suffocate their children to death.

During a court appearance in that case, Mackenzie said he was unaware of the events that led to the deaths of the two boys, adding he was the target of hostile propaganda from some of his former colleagues, The Standard newspaper reported.

Local media reported that six of Mackenzie’s associates were also arrested.

Local politicians have urged the court not to release him this time, decrying the spread of cults in the Malindi area.

Cults are common in Kenya, which has a largely religious society.