CS Kindiki declares curfew in Chakama Ranch, Shakahola, media banned from airing Mackenzie dead followers

Shakahola massacre

Peter Mwarogo, CEC of Kilifi for Health, has provided an explanation for the impact that people's religious beliefs have had on the healthcare system in the area.

According to the health official who spoke with NTV, the families of certain patients who were taken to different hospitals around the coast have begged that their relatives be released so that they may participate in "prayers."

He said that there are some patients who come to the Kilifi hospital with "holy water" and "handkerchiefs" from the Kilifi televangelist preacher, Pastor Ezekiel Odero of the New Life church.

In spite of this, Mwarogo said that the adherents have high regard for appropriate medical care and stated that there are very few instances of people refusing treatment.

Mwarogo responded to a question about whether an unusually high number of remains were delivered to the county mortuary by stating that the high number may have been noticed considering the scope of the region that the mortuary serves.

There have been at least 314 people who have declared their interest in looking for relatives who may have been victims of the Shakahola cult.

On Tuesday, that number was 212, and it continues to rise every day. People registered themselves with the Kenya Red Cross team, whose tent was set up just in front of the Kilifi Mortuary, which is where the corpses of the victims have been taken.

At the sprawling property in Shakahola, which spans 800 acres and is located in Kilifi County, homicide investigators have unearthed 95 corpses.

The residence of cult leader Paul Mackenzie was the location where five of the most recent remains discovered were those of young children.

Chakama Ranch, the location of Shakahola village, is under a three-day curfew that goes into effect at dark and lifts at dawn, courtesy of Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki.

During the hours when Chakama Ranch is under curfew, the CS has placed a restriction on any and all public meetings, celebrations, or movements that take place within or outside of the ranch, regardless of whether they are conducted individually or in groups.

According to him, everything is being done in order to clear the way for a significant security operation in which the GSU would be involved.

On Wednesday, Kindiki released a statement in which she referred to the location as both a "disturbed area" and a "crime scene."

"The area in question is an operational security operation zone, and no passage through it by the general public will be allowed commencing today, April 26, except as may be authorised by the mission commander and/or until the aforementioned orders are vacated," the CS added.

"No entrance to the area by the general populace shall be granted until these measures are withdrawn."

This comes as a result of the religious cult that served as an example of religion gone bad, as murder police have excavated 90 bodies at the huge property located in Shakahola, Kilifi County. The ranch is 800 acres in size.

Kindiki referred to the cult leader Paul Mackenzie and his followers as terrorists and pledged that they would be held accountable for their actions to the fullest extent of the law.

The property of cult leader Paul Mackenzie, where an exhumation operation is presently taking place, is off-limits to journalists who want to cover the story.

It is unclear why the media was not invited to participate in the task at hand, given that they had been reporting on it for over a week.

Kithure Kindiki, the Secretary of the Interior Cabinet, designated the whole 800-acre piece of land that is a part of the Shakahola forest as a disturbed area and an operating zone on Tuesday.

It has been revealed that at least 90 remains were exposed after being unearthed from graveyards in Malindi, and it is probable that the number of dead will exceed 100.

Only on Tuesday were the bodies of 17 people brought to the surface.

Yesterday, Kindiki said that the events that took place at Mackenzie's church were only "the tip of the iceberg."

"The administration acknowledges that this is something that should not have occurred. A formal investigation into a second religious group with its headquarters in Kilifi County has been initiated by us."

"We are collecting information that points to the possibility that the activities that took place at Mackenzie's were just the tip of the iceberg."

When CS Kindiki visited the region, he said that "the net was recently cast broader for every one of the associates and accomplices of Mackenzie's evil."

According to him, it is probable that the Director of Public Prosecutions, Noordin Haji, may decide to pursue terrorist accusations against the notorious preacher and his associates.