Coast

State waives all mortuary fees for Shakahola victims

Interior CS Kithure Kindiki gives a press briefing on the Shakahola massacre in Kilifi County on March 27, 2024. (Photo: Farhiya Hussein/EV)

By Farhiya Hussein | Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Interior CS Kithure Kindiki said they will also offer transport for the deceased back to their ancestral homes

The government has come to the aid of the families affected by the Shakahola tragedy and announced it will waive all fees, including morgue expenses, for their kin.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said the government will also support families that are unable to bury their loved ones.

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“The Kilifi county government has also decided to waive the mortuary fees. We will support the county government by paying the electric bills and offering transport for the deceased back to their ancestral homes,” said CS Kindiki.

The CS also announced plans to obtain sections of the Shakahala Forest which is in Chakama Ranch, where the victims died and construct a memorial to serve as a lasting reminder of the events that occurred.

Kindiki said the government will fence the 50,000-acre ranch where it is believed the chief suspect Paul Mackenzie buried his followers.

“The ranch remains a scene of crime. Last week the government de-gazetted the other areas and we shall be fencing off the area. It shall be required by the justice system in the case for prosecution of Mackenzie,” he said.

Interior CS Kithure Kindiki arrives in Kilifi ahead of a meeting with the County Security Heads on March 27, 2024. (Photo: Farhiya Hussein/EV)

CS Kindiki said this was important because of the desecration that was done in the Shakahola Forest.

“The government will take up the 4,000 acres to rest any of the victims that will not be identified or claimed. We will bury them at the same property,” CS Kindiki said, noting the government will make it a memorial area.

Accountability

According to him, many people including families of the victims are waiting for those who carried out the massacre to be held accountable.

Kindiki said once the courts lift the current injunction, those behind the tragedy including public officials will be held accountable through the Commission of Inquiry appointed by the President.

“These people either did not care, dismissed it or failed to commit themselves to stop this,” he said, noting the government has nothing to hide.

"Those who were in charge of security when the tragedy occurred will bear individual responsibility for the lapses."

One of the bodies is loaded onto a hearse from the Malindi sub-county Referral Hospital morgue on March 26, 2024. (Photo: Farhiya Hussein)

He thanked the Kilifi county government for the support accorded to officers and for preserving the bodies for a year, stating it was beyond their mandate.

“The procedure to release the bodies of the Shakahola massacre victims has begun. The crime scene teams have been instructed to conduct a final inspection of the Shakahola Forest to ensure the exhumation is thorough and professionally concluded,” the CS said.

On Tuesday four bodies that belonged to the family of Francis Wanje were released ahead of burial preparations.

Another two families will be receiving the bodies of their kin on Wednesday)

The exercise is set to conclude on Thursday.