By Henry Nwaneri
Kenyan authorities will on Tuesday release the bodies of people linked with the doomsday starvation cult, which was popular entitled “Shakahola forest massacre”.
An ugly incident which shook Kenya and the world, led to the death of Over 400, including those of children. These bodies have been exhumed from shallow mass graves discovered in April last year in a remote wilderness inland from the Indian Ocean town of Malindi.
Heritage Times (HT) reported last year that a certain clergy named Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie is alleged to have incited his followers to starve to death in order to “meet Jesus”.
Many lost there lives through starvation, but autopsies carried out by Kenyan government further revealed that some of the bodies including those of children, showed signs of death by asphyxiation, strangulation or bludgeoning.
After nearly a year of rigorous effort to identify these bodies through DNA, these bodies are the first to be handed over to their various families for proper burial.
READ ALSO: Nigeria: CBN Raises Interest Rate To 24.75%
High school teacher Francis Wanje, whose family lost eight members in the tragedy, told AFP they had identified four and will hold a funeral for them next month.
The disappearance of his two grandchildren had initially led investigators into the vast forest and the discovery of the mass graves.
“We thought the government could help us with the burial but we have been left to organise everything ourselves. Paying for four funerals is not an easy thing,” he told AFP on Monday.
A homicide officer from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations told AFP it was up to families to make their own burial arrangements.
Families have had to endure a painful wait for the bodies after the DNA profiling was delayed by lack of reagents and equipment.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), a state-backed body, last week deplored the slow process and accused authorities of withholding the results on grounds of security.
“This is not only delayed justice but also violates their cultural rights under Article 44 of the Constitution to bury their relatives in a culturally acceptable and dignified manner,” KNCHR said in a report.
“People are anxious and need closure on the matter.”
