Nairobi — The government has deployed more security personnel to comb through the vast Kilifi's Shakahola forest in a race to rescue any remaining followers of controversial televangelist Paul Mackenzie who could still be alive.
This comes as the death toll reached 90 Tuesday, with 17 more bodies exhumed from the mass grave site.
The vast 800-acre Shakahola ranch linked to Mackenzie has been sealed off and declared a scene of crime to allow homicide detectives dig more information on the deaths of Good News International church followers even as the officers exhume more bodies of victims of Mackenzie's teachings ideologies.
It is believed that some followers of the Good News International Church could still be hiding in the bush around Shakahola and at risk of death if not quickly found.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said Tuesday when he visited some of the areas identified as mass graves of victims of the Mackenzie cult that the multi-agency search and rescue team will complement the efforts of the teams already on the ground with a major priority on saving lives of those may still be trapped in terminal fasting prescribed by Pastor Mackenzie.
"We have information that we could have other victims of Mr Mackenzie cult in this property hence we want to upscale the ongoing search and rescue exercise," he stated.
Though the exercise will involve multi-agency security teams including human rights bodies, Kindiki said it will be security-led to ensure efficiency.
Reports indicate police sniffer dogs and additional equipment to aid in the search, rescue and exhumation exercise will also be deployed in the vast land.
Kindiki has since vowed tough punishment for pastor Mackenzie for radicalising locals in Kilifi to starve to death.
"We are doing everything possible to ensure that Mackenzie gets the harshest punishment. I am impressed that the Director of Public Prosecutions has indicated that he is exploring charging him and his associates with terrorism but that is not enough," Kindiki said on a visit to Shakahola forest scene Tuesday.
"It is also possible to charge Mackenzie with genocide because of the magnitude of this crime," he said, "we are exploring all the (legal) books available."
As the investigation unfolds, questions have emerged about how the cult was able to operate undetected despite Nthenge attracting police attention six years ago.
The televangelist had been arrested in 2017 on charges of "radicalisation" after urging families not to send their children to school, saying education was not recognised by the Bible.
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Nthenge was arrested again last month, after two children starved to death in the custody of their parents.
He was released on bail of Sh100,000 ($700) before surrendering to police following the Shakahola raid.
Nthenge is due to appear in court on May 2.
The Kenya Red Cross said 212 people had been reported missing to its support staff in Malindi, out of which two were reunited with their families.
The case has prompted calls for tighter control of fringe denominations in a country with a troubling history of self-declared pastors and cults that have dabbled in criminality.
