Mackenzie, who founded the Good News International Church in 2003, is allegedly responsible for the deaths of more than 100 people whose bodies were found buried in mass graves near the town of Malindi last month.
The graves, dubbed the “Shakahola forest massacre,” have shocked the deeply religious Christian-majority country, where Mackenzie and his followers reportedly retreated to a forest hideout to carry out their extreme religious practices.
According to investigators, Mackenzie urged his followers to starve themselves to death “to meet Jesus,” while an armed “enforcer gang” of 17 others was tasked with ensuring that no one broke their fast or left the hideout alive.
Autopsies carried out on the 100 bodies found in the mass graves revealed that starvation was the main cause of death, but some victims, including children, were also strangled, beaten, or suffocated. Prosecutors are asking to hold Mackenzie for another 90 days until investigations are completed, and he faces charges of terrorism, murder, kidnapping, and cruelty towards children.
Mackenzie’s arrest has also led to the arrest of Ezekiel Odero, a high-profile televangelist suspected of murder, aiding suicide, abduction, radicalisation, crimes against humanity, child cruelty, fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors claim that they have credible information linking the corpses exhumed at Shakahola to the deaths of several “innocent and vulnerable followers” from Odero’s New Life Prayer Centre and Church.
The horrific saga has raised questions about how Mackenzie, a self-styled pastor with a history of extremism, managed to evade law enforcement despite his prominent profile and previous legal cases. The case has also thrown a spotlight on failed efforts to regulate unscrupulous churches and cults that have dabbled in criminality.
The discovery of the mass graves has led to President William Ruto vowing to intervene in Kenya’s homegrown religious movements. The case has also shocked the nation and prompted widespread condemnation, with many calling for greater regulation of religious institutions to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
