Nairobi — Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki was in Kilifi County on Monday to oversee the commencement of postmortem examination of 110 bodies recovered from mass graves in Shakahola forest.
The autopsies will be conducted at the Malindi Sub-County Hospital Mortuary by a team of pathologists led by Chief Government Pathologist Dr. Johansen Oduor.
The objective of the examinations is to determine the actual cause of the victims' deaths with the emergence of various unconfirmed theories surrounding their demise since the discovery of mass graves that shocked the nation.
"The exercise will enable the state gather more forensic evidence, key in building a watertight case against the perpetrators of the heinous atrocity and deliver justice to the families and friends of the victims," the Ministry of Interior and National Administration said Monday.
The postmortem examinations were originally scheduled for April 27 but were postponed by the government until Monday.
Starvation cult
The Shakahola deaths are linked to the starvation cult led by controversial televangelist Paul Mackenzie of Good News International Church.
Mackenzie, who is currently in custody, is accused of driving his followers to starve to death arguing that it is the only path to God.
This is the third time Kindiki is in the coastal town of Malindi since homicide detectives and other partners launched search, rescue and exhumation exercise on the 800-acre piece of land associated with Mackenzie.
The government announced the transfer of senior security officials from Kilifi in the wake of the discovery of dozens of bodies buried in Shakahola as part of efforts to guarantee a credible probe.
Kindiki made the announcement Friday during his second visit to Shakahola located in coastal town of Malindi.
He said the changes will affect top agents from all security departments ranging from the Kenya Police Service, Administration Police Service, Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the National Intelligence Service.
The new changes took effect even as authorities intensified the efforts to rescue the surviving followers of starvation cult.
"The Government has decided that effective today we will transfer all station, division, sub-county and county heads and commanders of all agencies within Kilifi County effective today (Friday)," Kindiki said.
"We will replace them with colleagues from elsewhere so that we can show the public that what we are doing is for the good of the country and sake of justice."
The Interior CS however explained that the ministry was not implicating anybody on the failure to detect the criminal activities by the preacher but was doing so to secure the credibility of the investigation.
"We are saying if you are the OCS, the commander or the person who ought to have either received a report or you may have received the report and failed to act then you cannot be part of the team that is conducting the investigation," he said.
Kindiki said it is the policy of the government that all those who are in command positions at all levels must be deployed elsewhere and allow their colleagues from other stations to come and help push the investigations forward.
The Interior CS noted that the new team will co-ordinate with their counterparts from Nairobi to ensure they get to the bottom of Mackenzie's activities.
Regulating churches
The government has since vowed to spearhead reforms, including establishment of a self-regulation mechanism, to shield Kenyans from falling prey to unscrupulous preachers.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
On Sunday, President William Ruto said that he will form a task team in conjunction with the clergy to help formulate a self-regulation mechanism to root out fraudulent religious leaders seeking to "abuse religion" for personal gain.
Speaking on Sunday during a prayer service in Makutano, West Pokot County, President Ruto said the move will provide a mechanism for compliant church leaders to report rogue elements.
"We will come up with a taskforce, so that we can weed out the characters who want to abuse religion, to run businesses and things that are anti-religion in Kenya," Ruto said.
He noted that the envisaged framework will provide the religious leaders and institutions with the necessary mechanisms to identify those who are operating against the law.
"We want to provide a framework agreed with our religious leaders, a framework that will provide for self-regulation."
