Shakahola Forest incident



The Shakahola Forest incident involves a religious cult led by Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, founder of Good News International Ministries. The incident came to public attention in early weeks of April 2023 when a concerned man reported to the police that his wife and daughter, who had traveled from Nairobi, Kenya, to join Paul Nthenge Mackenzie's remote Good News International Ministries in Kilifi County had not returned.

Upon investigating the community, police discovered emaciated people and shallow graves. They rescued fifteen members of the group who revealed that they had been instructed to starve themselves to death to "meet Jesus." Despite the rescue efforts, four of the fifteen followers died before reaching the hospital due to their critical condition

Incident
Over the following three weeks, police began their search of the 800 acre property, finding more shallow graves and additional survivors who were starving to death. The first bodies recovered from the graves were mostly children. One of the graves is believed by police to contain the bodies of five members of the same family – three children and their parents. One of the graves had up to six people inside it. Another grave had twelve children in it. Some of the bodies were not buried. Authorities also discovered a number of other emaciated individuals, including one who had been buried alive for three days and was later taken to a hospital for treatment. Local authorities began requesting assistance from other jurisdictions to help with efforts at the commune.

Authorities believed that an unknown number of missing people were still hiding in the forest on the commune and evading authorities while continuing to fast. Authorities reported that members of the commune were actively trying to hinder their efforts to find survivors.

According to testimonies to police, Mackenzie told his followers "the fast would count only if they gathered together, and offered them his farm as a fasting venue. They were not to mingle with anyone from the 'outside' world if they wanted to go to heaven and were to destroy all documents given by the government, including national IDs and birth certificates." On 26 May, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki declared that Mackenzie hired criminals armed with crude weapons to kill followers who changed their minds about fasting and wanted out, as well as those who took too long to die.

As of 10 May 2023, 133 deaths were reported including eight who were rescued but later died. The majority of deaths were of children, with women being the next largest group, according to Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki. He additionally stated that not all deaths were by starvation, saying that "there were other methods used, including hurting them, just by physical and preliminary observations." Autopsies conducted on more than 100 bodies showed that the victims died of starvation, strangulation, suffocation and blunt trauma. The Kenyan Red Cross reported on 30 April that 410 individuals, including 227 minors, were missing.

As of 2 August, the total number of reported deaths was 427, and the number of those reported missing stood at 613. As of 24 May, 91 had been rescued. On 25 May, local news outlet K24TV noted that "The exact number of people who perished in the massacre might never be known following reports that there are instances where bodies were plunged in random deep pit latrines scattered in the expansive Chakama ranch where cult leader Paul Mackenzie led an unknown number of his followers." On September 18 The Nation reported that a total of 429 bodies had been exhumed from Shakahola Forest, adding that “The latest data indicates that 214 died from starvation, 39 from asphyxia, 14 from head injury, while 115 remain unascertained, and others from other causes.”

Mackenzie, his third wife Rhoda Mumbua Maweu and 16 other members of the group were arrested by authorities and are being held in police custody as of 7 May 2023. Mackenzie was denied bail on 10 May. Police plan to charge him with terrorism-related offenses. As of 14 June, the total number of those arrested was 36. On 21 June, one of the suspects died in custody after a hunger strike. The suspect, Joseph Juma Buyuka, reportedly died on Monday while undergoing treatment in a nearby Malindi Hospital. Two other suspects admitted on the same day as Buyuka are reportedly in critical condition.

On 24 April, search teams had to stop digging for bodies until autopsies were completed on the first 90 bodies that were found because the Malindi Sub-County Hospital's morgue was running out of space to store the bodies. On 28 April, it was reported that heavy rain was slowing rescue and recovery efforts.

"Mackenzie brainwashed his converts using William Branham's End of Days Theology, and convinced them that starvation could hasten their escape from this life to be with Jesus," detectives from the homicide unit said.

Police authorities claimed that some of the bodies were missing organs, which "raised suspicions of forced harvesting." However, on 10 May, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki refuted these assertions as "politicisation of the probe into the massacre," and advised the public to "treat [allegedly missing body parts] as rumours. People who have facts are those on the ground not those in offices." As of 8 May, autopsies performed on 112 of the exhumed bodies ruled out the possibility of organ harvesting.

On 12 June, 65 victims were arraigned at the Shanzu Law Courts for attempted suicide. According to the Citizen Digital news service, “The prosecution made an application to have them remanded in prison because the rescue centre can no longer hold them. They are also set to undergo a mental and medical assessment and be forced to eat in prison.”

On July 3, the Shanzu Magistrate Court released Rhoda Maweu on a personal bond of KSH 100,000 (US $711) with a surety bond of KSH 300,000 (US $2,131). In his ruling, Shanzu Senior Principal Magistrate Yusuf Shikanda said the state had failed to prove why Maweu should continue being held with the other accused persons. In regard to Mackenzie and the 16 co-accused, the court ruled that they should remain in custody for another 30 days.

Mackenzie and thirty other defendants were charged in January 2024 with the murders of 191 children, 180 of whom could not be identified.

Reactions
Kenyan President William Ruto said Mackenzie's beliefs were contrary to authentic religion. He appointed a commission of inquiry into the deaths and created a task force to review the regulations governing religious organizations.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said, "This horrendous blight on our conscience must lead not only to the most severe punishment of the perpetrator(s) of the atrocity on so many innocent souls, but tighter regulation (including self-regulation) of every church, mosque, temple or synagogue going forward."