kithure kindiki, Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration, has condemned the Shakahola Forest Massacre as a blatant infraction of the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of worship.
He broke his silence on the subject, stating that large-scale crimes under Kenyan and international law had been committed.
While recognizing religious freedom, Kindiki underlined the importance of more robust regulation of all religious institutions in the future.
Kindiki has asked the Regional Commissioner for the Coast Region to bolster the security personnel on-site in Malindi before his visit on Tuesday in response to the atrocity.
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He also stated that the 800-acre woodland had been blocked off and designated as a crime scene to prevent more casualties.
On Sunday, April 23, detectives and police officers performing exhumations discovered 18 more remains buried in shallow graves, bringing the total number of people exhumed to 39. As the inquiry into a macabre cult in Shakahola, Kilifi continues, 122 persons have been reported missing.
As the effort to exhume more mass graves in what is now known as the Shakahola massacre started its fourth day, 112 persons were reported missing at the tracing desk.
The Kenya Red Cross tweeted early Monday that it had set up tracing and counselling stations at the Malindi Sub-County Hospital for the Shakahola response.
Pastor Paul Mackenzie, a controversial preacher who allegedly indoctrinated his followers, some of them dropped out of school. In contrast, others quit their jobs to follow a theological mirage at the core of the atrocity. Members of what is now called a religious cult were advised to fast themselves to death in exchange for the chance to meet Jesus.
Hundreds of controversial pastor followers, drawn from all regions of the country, are thought to have abandoned their homes. Some sell their belongings before travelling to Malindi to join the murderous fast.
