Kenyan government bans churches for starving people to death
The Kenyan government has banned five churches in the country for starving followers to death, all in the name of fasting and going to heaven.
The announcement was made by the Registrar of Societies, Maria Nyariki, on Friday August 18th.
Among these churches is Paul Mackenzie’s, an alleged “cult” leader, with the highest number of deaths as a result of coerced fasting.
The self-proclaimed pastor, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, leader of the Shakahola cult or the Good News International Ministries, whose pastoral license was cancelled on May 19, was recently arrested alongside his wife and others, for inciting followers to fast to death, in order to meet Jesus in heaven. The long fast resulted in the deaths of over 400 people in July, in his Shakahola forest temple near the Malindi coast.
With the alarming death toll, Kenyan President Ruto and Deputy Rigathi Gachaga raised concerns over public safety and called for thorough investigations into the regulations of religious organizations in the country.
Following investigations, autopsies revealed that some of the victims including children were actually strangled, suffocated or beaten to death.
Some of the churches banned alongside that of the Shakahola priest include the New Life Prayer Center and Church, of the televangelist Ezekiel Odero who is currently been investigated on radicalisation, murder, aiding suicide, and money laundering.
