Shakahola massacre: Families to receive victims' bodies next Tuesday

The families of victims of the Shakahola massacre, whose bodies have been identified, will receive them next Tuesday for burials to be arranged, the government announced on Wednesday.

Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor reported that out of the 429 victims whose remains investigators have found so far, in mass graves in the Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County, 34 have been identified.

Speaking to journalists in Malindi on Wednesday, Oduor said that the families had been updated and would arrange the burials without the government's involvement.

He noted that the process of identifying the other bodies was ongoing in government laboratories.

“I urge more families to come forward and provide DNA samples because, despite receiving some from various people last year, many do not match those of the corpses exhumed in Shakahola,” Oduor said.

Families' appeal

Meanwhile, families that have already received DNA match results have urged the government to quicken the process so they can bury their loved ones.

They say there is no need for the bodies to remain in two containers near the Malindi County Hospital mortuary as autopsies have been done and DNA samples collected.

"We request the government to give us the bodies of our relatives so we can bury them because they have been there for too long. Autopsies and investigations have been done, and results have been given, so I do not understand why we are not being given the bodies for burials," their representative, Francis Wanje, told the press.

Wanje noted that the continued storage of the bodies has caused families more suffering in the form of depression and other conditions.

"Losing your loved ones in such circumstances already causes problems, and knowing that the DNA results confirm their deaths only adds to the confusion. When you are in that situation, you just want to bury the bodies to find closure and heal, but if you are not given the bodies for burial and they remain stored, it becomes even more challenging," said Wanje.

He added, "My wife, since the day she heard the news that our two grandchildren and our child all died, was shocked, and developed high blood pressure."

Titus Ngonyo, who lost five family members in the tragedy, noted the need for the government to guide the process of receiving bodies to alleviate mental anguish.

"I cried so much that I got used to it because I lost five family members at once. It is something I never expected, which has distressed me to the point of feeling hopeless," said Ngonyo.

"This situation has distressed me so much that I cannot support myself financially because I have been constantly thinking and questioning why this happened. I lost my wife, my child, my two grandchildren, and my son's wife, and to make it worse, my other son Isaac is still missing. We urge the government to give us the bodies so we can bury them and find some peace."

Mortuary congested

Last month, Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung'aro urged the government to hand over identified bodies to families for burial to reduce congestion at the mortuary and end the significant disruptions caused.

"We want to renovate that mortuary, but since the bodies haven't been removed, it has been difficult to do so," Mung'aro said, and questioned the need to continue preserving the bodies there even after DNA matching.

"Why shouldn't the families who received DNA match results be given the bodies for burial?" he asked.

Since last April, 429 bodies of members of the controversial Good News International Ministries have been found in the forest, following deaths that resulted from an instruction by self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie for his followers to starve themselves to death to meet Jesus.

When allegations of cultish operations by Mackenzie arose, the government and other stakeholders launched a rigorous search in the forest, finding mass graves.

Mackenzie and tens of other suspects in the case are currently facing various charges, including murder and child cruelty, even as the government prepares for the fifth phase of exhumations in the forest, which is expected to officially begin two weeks after the 34 bodies are handed over to their respective families.

Mackenzie is being held at the Shimo la Tewa prison ahead of a trial in May at the High Court in Malindi.