Exhumations Ongoing in Kwa Binzaro
Kenyan authorities have exhumed 32 bodies within the last week in the village of Kwa Binzaro, a move that raises new alarm about the activities of a lethal doomsday cult. The latest was almost two years to the day that over 400 members of the same Christian sect died in the adjacent Shakahola Forest, igniting national outrage and demands for increased regulation of radical religious groups.
Government pathologist Richard Njoroge said that seven more bodies were dug up on Thursday, as search teams in hazmat suits searched thick forest tracts with shovels and hoes. Kwa Binzaro is about 30 km from Shakahola, where cult leader Paul Mackenzie is accused of instructing his followers to starve themselves and their children to die in preparation for the apocalypse. Mackenzie, who is charged with murder and terrorism, has denied the claims.
Survivors Attribute Graves to Cult Activities
Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen previously stated that survivors who were rescued from Kwa Binzaro have attested to Mackenzie’s ongoing influence, despite being behind bars. The government previously committed to increasing monitoring of religious groups and strengthening community-based monitoring after the Shakahola tragedy, but experts say the recent deaths prove the loopholes in enforcement and interaction with local communities.
Human rights activist Hussein Khalid decried the continued deaths, saying, “What we are seeing is a betrayal. A betrayal of the most fundamental responsibility of any state – to safeguard the lives of its citizens.” Kilifi County authorities have arrested 11 suspects, so far, in connection with the Kwa Binzaro case. Kin of those who became Mackenzie’s cultists are eagerly waiting for DNA tests to confirm whether their missing relatives are part of the exhumed remains.
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Families Call for Immediate Action
For such families as that of William Ponda Titus, the tragedy is doubled. Eight from his family were recruited into the cult from 2015. Four were discovered dead in Shakahola, and four are still missing and suspected to be in Kwa Binzaro. “This thing has cut me deeply because at the moment it is just me and my father. I am ill ever since I received the news,” Reuters was told by Titus.
His cousin, Michael Ruwa, condemned how the government had handled the case, stating, “The issue is being treated lightly. We want the government to treat it seriously because it is human beings who have been lost in there, not animals.” While search efforts continue, the country keeps a watchful eye, insisting on responsibility and more stringent actions to ensure that there are no more deaths at the hands of extremist elements.
