Shakahola massacre is an indictment of the intelligence system, MPs say

The Senate Speaker said the Constitution guarantees the freedom of worship but not freedom of fatal cultism and the harshest punishment possible must be meted on those responsible for the deaths of the innocent souls.

National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi, Kilifi Senator Madzayo and Malindi MP Amina Mnyanzi termed what transpired in Shakahola as the work of the devil and his many disguised agents among us saying it was a colossal failure of the state.

Wandayi said that it is an unforgivable failure of security intelligence that in theory extends from Nairobi all the way to the Shakahola ending with the chiefs, assistant chiefs, village elders and Nyumba Kumi heads and this system failed and Kenyans deserve to know why.

"That so many people could walk away from their homes, stay away for so long, starve and die without anyone noticing or reporting something amiss demands an urgent public inquiry with consequences for those who slept on the job," he said.

The Ugunja MP said that they have taken note of the order by Prof Kindiki for the Coast Regional Commissioner and security chiefs to reinforce the team carrying out exhumation in Shakahola forest.

Wandayi wondered why the Regional Commissioner must wait for instructions so that he can do his work and that it is also baffling how the exhumation should be moving at a snail's pace in spite of the awesome machinery at the disposal of the State.

Madzayo said that if the dead and the dying had been in Shakahola brewing or taking changaa or smoking bhang, arrests would have been made and If the dead and the dying had been in waiting for some non-establishment political leader, an alarm would have been raised, police would have taken notice, tear-gas canisters would have been lobbed and they would have been dispersed.

The Kilifi Senator noted that the Shakahola massacre requires evaluation of security and intelligence systems and redefine what is considered to constitute national security and threats to it and that our definition of security needs a rethink and an overhaul to protect citizens from harmful acts.

"These mass deaths could have been avoided if our criminal justice system worked. This tragedy had been brewing for years but the criminal justice system has been too weak, too archaic and too compromised to prevent it," said Madzayo.

Mnyanzi said that they supported the call for tighter regulation of religious entities including churches, mosques, temples, and synagogues with a fresh look at faith and religion especially on those who would kill in the name of faith with ways to stop deranged and criminal characters from destroying humanity in the name of religion.

"However, this should not be an excuse for the State, or elements within it, to start imposing unnecessary restrictions on genuine religious activities, an inquiry into this massacre is a must, we must know who did or should have done what," she said Mnyanzi.

The Malindi MP said that an audit of the criminal justice system and its interactions with main suspect and members of this cult should be done and a look on how the national government inaction could have led to this pain and shame.