Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung'aro has revealed that the 800-acre plot of the property where officials discovered the decaying graves of 90 persons believed to be followers of notorious preacher Paul Mackenzie did not belong to the self-proclaimed clergyman.
Mung'aro said on Citizen TV's Newsnight that the land was intended for the third phase of the Chakama Settlement project, which he believes was taken over by a group of nefarious characters.
"That land which Mackenzie occupies is not his; we have three projects in that area which were originally grabbed by certain people from the Chakama ranchers," Governor Mung'aro explained to show host Waihiga Mwaura.
"When I was Malindi MP, we recovered Phase 1, approximately 52,000 acres." Phase 2 was retrieved about five years ago. He (Mackenzie) lives in Chakama 3, which is currently being fought over by the guys who took it and the bank."
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Governor Mung'aro stated that his nefarious designs might have been discovered sooner if Mackenzie had moved to more inhabited regions of the Shakahola forest.
"The government wanted to acquire that land so it could be distributed to the people." So that is one of the locations where there aren't many communities," remarked Kilifi Governor.
He said that the Kilifi County government is not too responsible for the killings in Shakahola forest since security personnel discovered criminals and cults hiding out as churches.
"Security issues are handled by security apparatuses rather than the county." Only they can assist us in solving such issues. "We had no idea anything was going on," he explained.
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