Kenyan Authorities Exhume Graves as 'Cult Deaths' Mount

At least 73 people, reported to be members of the Good News International Church, have been found dead in Kilifi County, Kenya, according to local media.

In footage posted by Kilifi County Governor Gideon Maitha Mung’aro, Felkin K Ndena, a representative from the Kilifi Department of Public Service, Special Programs & Disaster Management, gave an overview of the situation.

Ndena said 65 bodies had been exhumed from graves in Shakahola forest, though a local media report later placed the number at 73.

“We expect to recover more bodies because the graves are very many,” Ndena said.

The Kenyan Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said on Monday that 33 people had been rescued from various site belonging to the Good News International Church, which has been described locally as a “suspected cult”.

The Kenyan DCI said on Twitter that the leader of the Good News International Church, Paul McKenzie Nthenge, is alleged to have told his followers to starve themselves in order to “meet Jesus”.

Nthenge was arraigned in court on March 23 after being arrested following the death of two children who were found starved to death, the DCI said.

He was released on bail before being rearrested on April 14. Nthenge remains in custody. Credit: Gideon Maitha Mung’aro via Storyful

Video transcript

FELKIN NDENA: My name is Felkin Ndena. I'm the CC for Disaster Management and Public Service and Devolution. So immediately we received the report of the happenings in this forest, Shakahola forest, we mobilized the people in conjunction with the Red Cross. And we've been on the ground. So far, we've been able to mobilize enough food. We've been able to mobilize these ambulances again.

And so far so good because with the help of the police, we've been able to mop out victims. We've been able to recover bodies which have been buried. And so far, the numbers of the dead which have been removed from the graves is 65. And going forward, we do expect that we are going to put more effort in conjunction with the national government to ensure that we mop out the whole forest so that we can get the bodies.

And I believe at this given time, again, with the help of the police, as we comb the forest, we still have more survivors whom we do hope that we are going to get to all of them and take them to the police-- or take them to the hospitals. Already, we have a rescue center in Malindi, where we've been-- Alua. Yeah, yeah, the rescue centers are in Malindi and Mtwapa, where the survivors who have been taken to the hospitals for medication have been put together for counseling, which, again, will help them to organize themselves and get back to their families.

So it is our hope that our hospitals will also be able to cope up with the number of bodies which we've been able to recover from the different graves. As a county government, I think we are doing very well because our hospitals have the necessary facilities. Our morgues also are prepared for all these bodies. The DPP has been here. And as the national government, again, we do expect that justice will actually be gotten for all the survivors and for the families of the dead.

We are very sorry for this happening because it is something which, in our interpretation, has not started today. It is something which started sometimes back. And going forward, we shall ensure that our security people do enough surveillance to ensure that this forest is not used as a grave by this cult because to us, it is a cult. It is not a church because we don't expect our church to bring people together in different homes to kill them or for them to die.

We know what has been happening could be something that has been out of our knowledge. But as I'm saying, with the help of our leaders, we should be able to ensure that this forest is safe so that such things do not happen again. We want to say thank you to our county government, the Governor, His Excellency Gideon Maitha Mung'aro, for the assistance he's given because the two rescue centers where these survivors are, he's the one who provided the facilities.

He's the one who's been able to provide the food and all the facilities that are required in these given rescue centers. We say, again, as a county government, we shall put ourselves together with the national government because this is a national disaster. It is not for Kilifi County only. So we shall ensure that we put ourselves together with the National government so that together, we ensure that these cases are brought to an end, and we do ensure that our people are safe.

The safety of our people comes first. We cannot leave a society where people are not safe. And to our consternation, most of the victims are not even from Kilifi County. We have Kambas. We have Luhyas. We have Luos. So most, 70%, of the survivors we've actually been able to recover from these different homes or the shanties in this given forest come from upcountry. So we are here to investigate-- or the police are here to give us a report how these people were ferried to these given places so that we can also know how we can put an end of these atrocities, which to us is--

We can say it is homicide. It is genocide because the numbers of the dead is just too much. We expect to recover more bodies because the graves are very many. I think the numbers-- we had said we had gotten 70 graves, but I think the number of graves is higher. So as far as we are concerned as a county government, again, I'm saying we want to thank everybody who has come on board to help us do as much as we can to make Shakahola forest a better place for people to occupy. Thank you very much. And may the Almighty God bless all of us. [SPEAKING SWAHILI]