Death Toll at Kenyan Cult Ranch Reaches 90: Authorities Expand Operation to Save Lives

Tragedy struck Kenya as the death toll at a ranch owned by Pastor Paul Makenzi reached 90 on Tuesday.

The pastor, who is accused of leading a religious cult, allegedly ordered his followers to starve themselves to death in order to meet Jesus. The bodies of the victims were buried in shallow graves spread across his land.

The latest figures came after police exhumed 17 more bodies. The total number of those rescued while starving at the ranch now stands at 34. Meanwhile, the Kenya Red Cross Society’s latest figure on the number of missing is 213.

The pastor, who heads the Good News International Church, was arrested after police raided the property earlier this month. He remains in police custody, facing charges of murder and leading a religious cult.

To that effect, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki announced an expanded operation at the site, saying that the security team will “upscale search and rescue missions to save as many lives as possible.”

Moreover, the minister also declared the entire 800-acre (320-hectare) parcel of land that is part of the Shakahola ranch a disturbed area and an operation zone.

The teams digging at the site have been finding decomposed bodies buried in mass and single graves marked with a cross.

Meanwhile, those believed to be living in mudwalled houses inside the ranch have been fleeing from rescue teams, and mostly those who can’t walk or talk have been rescued so far.

The Mombasa-based Muslims for Human Rights Group called on the government “to consider the option of using aerial surveillance by use of helicopters to rescue more people and make the process quicker.”

The broadcast regulator, Kenya Film and Classification Board, had sounded the alarm in 2017 on radicalization-like content by Makenzi on television.

The board’s former chairperson, Ezekiel Mutua, told local media that the content was taken off air at the time, and law enforcement agencies were notified.

The pastor had been arrested twice before in 2019 and in March of this year in relation to the deaths of children. Each time, he was released on bond, and both cases are still proceeding through the court system.

The interior minister likened the cult deaths to the one run by U.S. preacher Jim Jones, whose 900 followers took poison in a mass suicide in 1978. Other cult activities that ended up in mass deaths include Uganda’s Kanungu cult massacre, which killed 700 followers in 2000.

The minister said there would be a turning point on how the country handles threats caused by religious extremism and was looking into another suspected cult in the same Kilifi county.