Shakahola Massacre: Identified Bodies to be Released to Relatives

Shakahola Massacre: Identified Bodies to be Released to Relatives | Kenyan News. In March, authorities will resume the exhumation of bodies in the extensive Shakahola forest, marking the fifth phase of the operation, as announced by government pathologist Johansen Oduor on Thursday.

He further stated that autopsies have been conducted on 429 bodies, with the results for DNA still pending.

Oduor announced that the bodies identified during the last phase of the Shakahola forest exhumation will be released to their families in March as well.

“We are resuming the exercise in March, in which we will receive the results of DNA tests, release identified bodies to relatives and embark on the last phase of the exercise,” Oduor said.

“This will include recovery, identifying, postmortem examination, evidence collection and documentation.”

A multi-stakeholder team participating in the exercise will convene next week to agree on the next steps.

Meanwhile, Oduor disclosed the potential of burying some bodies exhumed from Shakahola in a mass grave due to the refusal of certain relatives to undergo DNA testing for matching purposes.

The reluctance is attributed to the fact that some individuals don’t wish to be linked to their family members who willingly joined pastor Paul Mackenzie’s church.

“Some of them came and gave their samples but some refused because they were telling us the person went to Mackenzie hence they don’t want anything to do with them,” he said.

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The Shakahola Forest incident refers to a religious cult in the Shakahola forest led by Paul Nthenge Mackenzie of Good News International Ministries. The incident gained attention in the early weeks of April 2023 when a man contacted the police after his wife and daughter left Nairobi, Kenya, to join Paul Nthenge Mackenzie’s remote Good News International Ministries in Kilifi County and did not return. When police entered the community to investigate, they discovered emaciated people and shallow graves. Fifteen members of the group were rescued by police; they stated that they had been ordered to starve themselves to death to “meet Jesus.” The fifteen followers were in poor condition, and four died before they reached a hospital

Shakahola Massacre: Identified Bodies to be Released to Relatives