16 more bodies of Shakahola massacre victims identified

Detectives exhume bodies from Shakahola forest in Kilifi county. [File, Standard]

Sixteen more bodies of Shakahola massacre victims have been identified through DNA tests, Government Chief Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor has said.

This brings the number of bodies that have been positively identified to 50. At least 452 bodies were retrieved from shallow mass graves inside the Shakahola Forest in Malindi, Kilifi county.

Dr Oduor said 34 bodies were handed to their families, while the identity of 402 others is yet to be known. The dead were faithful of Good News International (GNI) linked to controversial pastor Paul Makenzi.

Mackenzie, his wife, and 94 others have been charged for the deaths that occurred between 2022 and 2023. Autopsy reports revealed that the victims either starved to death, were strangled, or were hit by blunt objects had died.

On Thursday, Oduor said a date will be communicated when families will collect the 16 bodies. He revealed that the government chemist was still taking DNA samples from families whose relatives were missing.

"We are yet to be briefed by the DCI Homicide Unit on when bodies will be handed over to families," Oduor said.

Stephen Mwiti who lost his six children in the Shakahola massacre said police notified him that two were among the 16 identified bodies.

"My two children Samuel Kirimi, 7, and Hellen Karimi, 9, have been identified. I'm not sure if my four other children are among the bodies at the Malindi mortuary or are still in the shallow graves in Shakahola," said Mwiti.

Mwiti said he has yet to decide if he will bury his children at their rural home in Meru County or allow the government to bury them inside Shakahola Forest.

His wife, Bahati Juan, is among hundreds of people who were convinced by Makenzi to fast and die before the end of the world in August 2023.

Mwiti said that his wife had been an ardent follower of Makenzi since 2015. She first went to Shakahola in 2021 before she relocated there.

The bodies in black bags with handwritten cards identifying each victim are stored inside two container mobile ambulances stationed outside the Malindi Sub-County Hospital.

Families of the victims who are yet to be identified said it has been painful and endless grief to wait for the state to release the bodies for burial.

Kenya Red Cross Society records indicate that more than 600 people believed to have joined the cult are still missing.

Prosecutors charged Makenzi and some of his followers in January for various offences including the murder of 191 children. They denied the charges.

Meanwhile, the 5,000-acre Chakama Ranch, which is part of Shakahola Forest, where graves were discovered remains out of bounds and under tight security as it is a crime scene.

General Service Unit officers have pitched camp in the forest and patrols to keep away the public.