2023-04-27 01:12:28
«Jesus told me that the work he had entrusted me to finished“, Pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge explained in 2019 when closing a meeting of the International Church of Good News in a coastal town in Kenya.
The famous televangelist led his followers into the depths of the Shakahola forest, in the south of the country, and allegedly convinced his devotees to fast to death to meet God.
The discovery last week of mass graves topped with crucifixes, many containing the remains of children, shocked the largely Christian country.
Kenya is no stranger to well-known pastors who preach fiery sermons and predict the end of the world. And attempts to regulate religion are met with fierce opposition.
There are more than 4,000 registered churches in this East African country of some 50 million people, according to government figures. Some preach the theory of prosperityencouraging its members to donate large sums to the church to improve their own financial situation.
But others promote darker beliefs.
All of them tend to be dominated by leaders who exert virtually unlimited control over the lives of their worshipersmisrepresenting the Bible to promote its authority.
«Most of these alleged pastors have never set foot in a theological school.“, commented to the AFP agency, Stephen Akaranga, professor of religion at the University of Nairobi. This matters little to his herd, he admits.
Poverty and lack of education, a toxic mix in Kenya
A toxic mix of poverty, little education and easy access to entertaining online sermons have allowed these cults to thrive in Kenya, with fatal effects.
In 2018, news broke of a family who lost seven children over four years because their organization Kanitha wa Ngai (Church of God) did not believe in hospitals and modern medicine.
The same year, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DIC) warned citizens regarding a cult called the Young Blud Saints that targeted college students. «Members must sacrifice what they love most to prove their loyalty to the organizationThe DIC said in a statement, urging “parents to keep an eye on their children to prevent them from being recruited to such malign organizations.”
But these cults have managed to evade the law, despite repeatedly attracting the attention of the police.
Nthenge himself faced the law in 2017 following being accused of urging children to miss school, claiming the Bible did not recognize education. He was arrested once more last month following the starvation of two children in the custody of his parents. He denied the accusations and was released on bail.
But the macabre findings of the «Shakahola Forest Massacre» and the growing number of victims (currently 98) multiplied calls to regulate religion in Kenya.
«The horror we have seen in the last four days is traumatizing.said Hussein Khalid, executive director of rights group Haki Africa, which warned police of the alleged pastor’s actions.
“Cannot be tolerated” –
President William Ruto called for action once morest these religious movements and compared their leaders to terrorists.
«What happened here in Shakahola is the turning point in how Kenya handles serious security threats from religious extremists.Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki agreed on Tuesday.
So far, 15 people are under arrest for the Shakahola deaths. Among them is Pastor Nthenge, whom the government threatens to charge with terrorism.
With information from AFP
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