Kenya Fears More Starvation Cult Victims as Search Resumes

The local spiritual leaders from Kaya-Giriama ethnic group wait for the transport to visit the mass-grave site in the forest in Shakahola, outside the coastal town of Malindi, on April 24, 2023. (AFP)
The local spiritual leaders from Kaya-Giriama ethnic group wait for the transport to visit the mass-grave site in the forest in Shakahola, outside the coastal town of Malindi, on April 24, 2023. (AFP)
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Kenya Fears More Starvation Cult Victims as Search Resumes

The local spiritual leaders from Kaya-Giriama ethnic group wait for the transport to visit the mass-grave site in the forest in Shakahola, outside the coastal town of Malindi, on April 24, 2023. (AFP)
The local spiritual leaders from Kaya-Giriama ethnic group wait for the transport to visit the mass-grave site in the forest in Shakahola, outside the coastal town of Malindi, on April 24, 2023. (AFP)

Fears were growing in Kenya on Tuesday that there could be more victims of a starvation cult as investigators resumed their searches after finding dozens of corpses in mass graves.

Police have spent days scouring the Shakahola forest near the coastal town of Malindi after receiving a tip-off about a cult led by Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, who urged his followers to starve to death in order to find God.

Police sources told AFP late Monday that the death toll was now 73, with a number of people rescued and taken to hospital.

The grim discovery has sent shockwaves through the country, prompting President William Ruto to pledge a crackdown on "unacceptable" religious movements amid fears that the toll is set to climb higher.

"We believe there are more," Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome told reporters on Monday.

It is believed some followers of the Good News International Church could still be hiding in the bush around Shakahola and at risk of death if not quickly found.

Hussein Khalid, executive director of the rights group Haki Africa that tipped off the police, urged the authorities to send more rescuers to scour the 325-hectare (800-acre) area of woodland for survivors.

"Each day that passes by there is very high possibility that more are dying," he told AFP.

"The horror that we have seen over the last four days is traumatizing. Nothing prepares you for shallow mass graves of children."

Investigators said they found bodies squeezed into shallow pits -- with up to six people inside one grave -- while others were simply left outside on the ground.

'Unacceptable ideology'

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki has announced plans to visit the site on Tuesday, while Ruto has vowed to take action against rogue pastors like Nthenge "who want to use religion to advance weird, unacceptable ideology", comparing them to terrorists.

As the Kenyan authorities try to uncover the true scale of what is being dubbed the "Shakahola Forest Massacre", questions have emerged about how the cult was able to operate undetected despite Nthenge attracting police attention six years ago.

The televangelist was arrested in 2017 on charges of "radicalization" after urging families not to send their children to school, saying education was not recognized by the Bible.

He was arrested again last month, according to local media, after two children starved to death in the custody of their parents.

He was released on bail of 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($700) before surrendering to police following the Shakahola raid.

The case is due to be heard on May 2.

The Kenya Red Cross said 212 people had been reported missing to its support staff in Malindi, out of which two were reunited with their families.

The case has prompted calls for tighter control of fringe denominations in a country with a troubling history of self-declared pastors and cults that have dabbled in criminality.



Erdogan Accuses Top Turkish Business Group of Political Meddling

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a statement during the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan November 12, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a statement during the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan November 12, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
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Erdogan Accuses Top Turkish Business Group of Political Meddling

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a statement during the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan November 12, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a statement during the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan November 12, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo

President Tayyip Erdogan accused Türkiye's top business association, TUSIAD, of meddling in politics and undermining the government on Wednesday, piling pressure on a group already being investigated over an executive's remarks on democracy. Speaking to his ruling AK Party in the parliament, Erdogan said TUSIAD had "overstepped" and he dismissed it as a remnant of the past that had thrived on economic privilege and political influence.

"TUSIAD's mentality is a symbol of weak governments in Türkiye's past (and it is) full of businessmen who have grown under the shadow of unfair profits and privileges at the expense of the nation," he said.

"They once dictated politics through newspaper headlines. We put an end to that. We did not recognize any power above the will of the people," he said, accusing the group of fueling political instability and attempting to pressure the government. TUSIAD executive Omer Aras, who is the chairman of QNB's Turkish banking unit, last week criticized a government crackdown on dissenting figures, saying the probes into opposition leaders and journalists had shaken trust and damaged democracy. In response, a prosecutor's office opened an investigation into his remarks, prompting a drop in Istanbul-listed stocks. On Wednesday, Istanbul's prosecutors' office expanded the probe to include TUSIAD President Orhan Turhan, citing his statements at the group's general assembly as "misleading and disruptive to public order."

A statement on Wednesday from the Istanbul prosecutor's office said Aras and Turhan were under investigation for "attempting to influence a fair trial" and "publicly spreading misleading information," and that authorities had ordered them to appear for questioning. TUSIAD, whose members account for 85% of Türkiye's foreign trade and 80% of the country's corporate tax revenue, said on Tuesday it was working for national interests.

It did not address the investigation into Aras directly and did not immediately comment on Erdogan's remarks.

Erdogan said his government has raised per-capita income, built roads and spread prosperity since coming to power more than two decades ago. "As long as we are in power, no one will bring back the old system where a handful of elites siphoned off state resources," he said.

Opposition lawmakers have faced a wave of arrests, detentions and probes in the last few months that critics say aim to silence dissent and weaken Erdogan's rivals' electoral prospects. The government dismisses this accusation and says the judiciary is independent.