Kenyan authorities have banned five churches, including that of a suspected cult leader accused of inciting more than 400 of his followers to starve themselves to death, a government document said Friday.
In a gazette notice, the registrar of societies said that the licence of self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie’s Good News International Ministries was cancelled, effective May 19.
Mackenzie allegedly incited his followers to starve to death to “meet Jesus” in a case that has deeply shocked Kenyans.
While starvation appears to be the leading cause of death, some victims — including children — were strangled, beaten or suffocated, according to official autopsies.
Authorities also banned four other churches, including the New Life Prayer Centre and Church headed by flamboyant televangelist Ezekiel Odero, who has been linked to Mackenzie.
Odero is under investigation on a raft of charges, including murder, aiding suicide, radicalisation and money laundering.
His arrest in April followed the discovery of human remains in Shakahola forest near the coastal town of Malindi, with police saying the bodies belonged to Mackenzie’s followers.
While prosecutors have linked the two preachers, Odero was freed on bail in May, while a court extended Mackenzie’s detention for a further 47 days pending further investigation.
A predominantly Christian nation, Kenya has struggled to regulate unscrupulous churches and cults that dabble in criminality.
The grim discoveries in what has now been dubbed the “Shakahola forest massacre” prompted the government to flag the need for tighter control of fringe denominations in the country with a history of self-declared pastors and movements.
Previous efforts have been fiercely opposed as attempts to undermine constitutional guarantees for dividing church and state.
