Kenyan authorities have recovered at least 50 bodies of members of the Good News International Church, who are believed to have starved themselves to death. The death toll is expected to rise as the Kenya Red Cross said 178 members of the church were reported missing.
Kenyan security forces and residents of the coastal town of Malindi continue to recover the bodies of people who were following the teachings of Good News International Church pastor Paul Mackenzie.
Kenya's inspector general of police, Japhet Koome, said an additional 11 bodies were exhumed from Mackenzie’s land in Shakahola forest on Monday. He said 29 people were rescued.
Japhet Charo, who lives the village of Furunzi where Mackenzie preached to his followers, said the community is saddened by the senseless death of its members.
"There is sadness in everyone, not just those who went to church but also those who did not,” Charo said. “They are upset about this whole situation that we have never seen or heard of. People are wondering what kind of benefit a situation like this brings. The pastor said children will die first, followed by mothers and men. We're not sure how such deaths would benefit him."
Mackenzie was arrested more than a week ago after four of his followers died of starvation, thinking it was a way to meet Jesus, according to reports.
Authorities have recovered 50 bodies from Shakahola forest since then.
Charo began attending Mackenzie’s church in 2006, a year after it opened.
The father of eight said he knew Mackenzie when he was a taxi driver in the late 1990s and would frequently wash his vehicle. The 44-year-old left the church in 2017 after his children began to follow his anti-school teachings and refused to attend classes.
"There were rules in the church that women had to cut their hair and not wear makeup, and he encouraged children not to go to school because there was nowhere in the Bible that said children had to go to school,” Charo said. “When it came to that kind of teaching, I noticed some political games being played in the church and decided not to attend."
Kenyan President William Ruto said there was no difference between the pastor's actions and those of terrorists.
"What we are seeing in Kilifi in Shakahola is akin to terrorists,” Ruto said. “There is no difference between Mr. Mackenzie, who pretends and postures as a pastor when in fact, is a terrible criminal."
Families continue to search the forest for their loved ones. According to the Kenya Red Cross, which assists with rescue and psychological efforts, the number of missing people has increased.
Hassan Musa, the Kenya Red Cross regional manager for the Coast region, said there were still 178 people missing and the organization is working closely with the government and other stakeholders to see if they can identify the missing while also dealing with the number of bodies.
“We working with the county government to see if we can enhance the capacity of the morgue,” Musa said. “What we are doing is to see if we can have a mobile morgue so that we can accommodate numbers that are increasing day by day."
Ruto has directed security agencies to monitor the activities of religious leaders who promote dangerous ideologies.
