ALBAWABA - At least 73 people were killed after a Kenyan pastor told his followers to starve to death to meet Jesus Christ, sources reported on Monday.
The death toll jumped after the discovery of 26 new bodies on Monday, Malindi sub-county police chief John Kemboi told the Associated Press.
Pastor Paul Makenzi is now held under investigation by the police after dozens of bodies were recovered on land that belongs to him in coastal Kenya.
Makenzi was arrested on April 14 over links to cultism.
BREAKING: Death toll from Kenya religious starvation cult rises to 73, with many of the bodies belonging to children.
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) April 24, 2023
The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) called for more firm laws governing the establishment and operation of religious outfits in Kenya.
Leader of the Catholic bishops Martin Kivuva said: "It is our considered opinion that if a strong mechanism of regulating religions was in place, the long arm of the law would have stopped Pastor Mackenzie from taking advantage of Kenyans to engage in acts of mass suicide."
Kenyan President William Ruto compared the starvation cult incident to terrorism. He added: "What we are seeing in Kilifi, Shakahola is kin to terrorism. There is no difference between Mr Mackenzie who pretends and postures as a pastor when in fact he is a terrible criminal."
The Associated Press reported that the pastor was arrested twice before, in 2019 and in March of this year, in relation to the deaths of children.
