Interior Cabinet Secretary, Kithure Kindiki has revealed that the government plans to mark Shakahola Forest as a memorial place to commemorate those who died in the horrific cult tragedy.
Speaking on Monday, April 1, during the commencement of the postmortem examination of 110 bodies exhumed from the Kilifi forest, the CS has assured Kenyans that the government will put measures to ensure that such kind of crime is never experienced in the country.
"We are also contemplating on what we will do with the scene of crime, once the process of exhumation, search and rescue is complete. We will be announcing what the government will do with regards to making sure that place remains a memorial to the country to always remember that this tragedy visited us," Kindiki said.
The CS also said that the government is still working on unravelling the circumstance under which the offences took place and those found in connection to the heinous act will be held accountable.
"If any of our people have their organs missing, we will tell the world there is nothing we are hiding and we will have to find out why they are missing, any person in the path of accountability will meet their destiny," he said.
Last Friday, all the police commanders in Kilifi County were redeployed to allow thorough investigations.
The CS clarified that the act of reshuffling of the officers was not in bad faith to label them as guilty, but to gain public confidence.
"We are not judging them as guilty but we want a perception of fairness and to give the public confidence that the government will not try to obstruct justice," Kindiki explained.
Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor will lead the team conducting autopsies on the bodies.
"Relatives who have reported their kins missing will submit their DNA to the government chemist to help in matching the sample from the deceased. We are going to conduct autopsies in teams and once we finish we will do the briefing" Dr Oduor said.
Another measure taken last week by the CS was to declare a 30-day dusk-to-dawn curfew in the Chakama Ranch area.
This means that there shall be no public gatherings, processions or movement into and out of Chakama Ranch either alone or as a group during the period of curfew.
