A Kenyan Christian pastor by the name of Paul Mackenzie Nthenge was arrested on April 15 after he reportedly told his followers to starve themselves to death to meet Jesus.
As per reports, 7 people (including three children) have died of ‘starvation’ so far after following the advice of the pastor. The police have dug out 21 bodies from the Shakahola forest in Malindi town of Eastern Kenya, connected to the ongoing investigation.
“In total since yesterday, we have 21 bodies…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,” an anonymous source told AFP.
Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, who ran the Good News International Church, had a ‘cult following’ among the locals in the area. He is currently in police custody and awaiting a court appearance.
21 bodies have been exhumed in Kenya's cult probe. Cult's leader Makenzie Nthenge reportedly told followers to starve themselves to "meet Jesus". Toll likely to rise. Nthenge is reportedly on a hunger strike. Rise in cults can be blamed on low level literacy and extreme poverty pic.twitter.com/cXs6qcR7lN
— Stephen Mutoro (@smutoro) April 22, 2023
In his defence, the Christian pastor claimed that he had done nothing wrong and that his Church shut down in 2019. As per reports, Nthenge recited the names of three villages (Nazareth, Bethlehem, and Judea) before baptising people in ponds and asking them to starve to death.
Pathologists are now collecting DNA samples from the exhumed bodies to determine whether all of them died of starvation. The police had received information that ‘ignorant people’ were starving to death in the Shakahola forest and were able to rescue 7 men and 4 women.
The cops also arrested 6 associates of Paul Mackenzie Nthenge. Reportedly, the Christian pastor has now gone on a hunger strike while in police custody.
The killed people were identified as Allan Obiero, Wycliffe Waimoi, Mercy Aoko, Paul Karisa, Jane Nyambura, Alfred Shitemi, Felix Wandera, David Abuhaya, Collins Kabaye, Monica Masika and an unknown adult female.
