‘SHAKAHOLA FOREST MASSACRE’

Kenya Starvation Cult Death Toll Reaches 200

A cabbie-turned-preacher accused of pushing cult members to starve to death with the promise “to meet Jesus.”

Investigators dug up 22 more bodies in a forest off the coast of Malindi, Kenya, Saturday belonging to followers of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, 50, a cabbie-turned-preacher accused of pushing cult members to starve to death with the promise “to meet Jesus.” A chief government pathologist found that most of the cult members died of starvation, although some were strangled, battered, or smothered. The Good News International Church founder handed himself over in April and is one of 26 people arrested for the deaths. An “enforcer gang” whose job was to make sure nobody even dared to break fast or escape the forest hideaway alive has also been taken into custody. Several corpses had missing organs, raising suspicions from police over whether the suspects harvested the body parts by force. The so-called “Shakahola Forest Massacre” has shocked President William Ruto, who is working on creating a “commission of inquiry into the deaths and a task force to review regulations governing religious bodies,” Barron’s reported.