Kenya Bans Churches Implicated in Cult Death: Kenya has banned five churches including that of a suspected cult leader accused of inciting more than 400 of his followers to starve themselves to death, reports a government document released Friday.
The registrar of societies announced in a gazette notice that the license of self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie’s Good News International Ministries was canceled effective May 19, AFP reported.
The allegation that Mackenzie encouraged his followers to starve to death in order to “meet Jesus” has severely outraged Kenyans.
Official autopsy found that several deceased, including children, had been strangled, beaten, or smothered despite the fact that malnutrition is thought to be the primary cause o the death.
Authorities also banned four other churches linked to Mackenzie. Among the banned churches include the New Life Prayer Centre and Church headed by televangelist Ezekiel Odero.
Odero is under investigation on a raft of charges including murder, aiding suicide, radicalization, and money laundering.
Odero’s arrest in April followed the discovery of human remains in a forest near Malindi. Police believed the bodies belong to Mackenzie’s followers.
Although prosecutors have linked the two preachers, Odero was released on bail in May while a court last week extended Mackenzie’s detention for a further 47 days pending further investigation.
The grim discoveries in what has now been referred to as the “Shakahola forest massacre” have prompted the government to stress the need for greater supervision of fringe denominations.
In Kenya, a country that is predominately Christian with more than 4,000 registered churches, authorities have struggled to control people who engage and often preach the prosperity gospel. Previous efforts have been fiercely opposed as attempts to undermine constitutional guarantees for the division of church and state.
In June, Joseph Buyuka, accused alongside Mackenzie of orchestrating the deaths of 337 followers, died in police custody following a hunger strike. Two other suspects had fallen ill, possibly due to their hunger strike.
Mackenzie handed himself to the police in April. After being first released on bail, he was taken into custody again after more bodies were found. More than 300 bodies have been reportedly recovered from the forest by the officials.