Nairobi, Kenya — A Kenyan grandfather is blaming a lack of action by authorities for the deaths of dozens of people in a cult who starved themselves and their children to death. Kenyan investigators have uncovered at least 90 bodies of people who belonged to the Good News International Church. Hundreds of others affiliated with the church are still missing.
Investigators are in their sixth day of searching for the bodies of people who starved to death after being told that if they died this way, they would meet Jesus.
Francis Wanje rescued his grandson on March 17, two days after two of the boy's brothers died of starvation.
The high school teacher had mobilized community members and police officers to check on his family, who lived with the cult in the Shakahola Forest in eastern Kenya.
"When I arrived there, on the 17th at around 2 p.m., I found my daughter, the husband and the mother of the husband," Wanje said. "They were there and they were holding the firstborn, who was very weak and already waiting for him to die and be buried. They rescued the boy. My daughter, the husband and the mother disappeared in the forest. Up to today, they have not been found."
Authorities in the area did not begin an active search for church members until last week. Wanje said if authorities had taken action earlier, the death toll would not be so high.
"Things were not handled the way they were supposed to be handled," Wanje said. "If these people could have moved early enough, they could have saved many lives."
Kenyan authorities have so far found the bodies of 90 church members. Another 34 people were rescued but the Kenyan Red Cross said 314 others are missing.
Kenyan authorities say members of the church were encouraged to not eat or drink by its founder, Paul Mackenzie, who describes himself as a pastor.
Antony Njeru, a theology student at Pan Africa Christian University, said Mackenzie's ideology has no basis in Christian teachings.
"It's an exploitation of people using the Bible but that is not biblical at all. It has no foundation in doctrine," Njeru said. "You cannot take away people's rights and say that the Bible tells people to fast to death. That's nowhere in the Bible. His doctrine cannot be traced in the Bible, so we don't believe he is a true pastor."
Stephen Akaranga, a religious studies professor at the University of Nairobi, said people like Mackenzie prey on the poor and those who have not studied religion.
"Those people who are gullible are those who are not strong in their spirit, people who don't understand about their religion, those who are least schooled and those people who are very poor and people who can easily be swayed by not understanding their faith truly," he said. "So, you can find these are people who can now most likely be lured into some cult because this is not a religion."
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Kenyan government officials said they will fight religious extremism and radicalization of the population.
Njeru said the government needs to enforce relevant laws.
"Demanding accountability is still good, it is still OK we encourage that," Njeru said. "We also encourage pastors to be open to scrutiny and at all times be open to their followers."
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said Tuesday that Mackenzie will be prosecuted for the alleged deaths of his followers. He was arrested April 15 and remains in custody in the coastal city of Malindi.
