Controversial A Kenyan pastor was arrested after a member of his church starved and suffocated her two children to death in order to please God.
Kenyan police have arrested a controversial televangelist in connection with the deaths of two children in Shakahola village, which were allegedly murdered by their mother.
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On Wednesday evening, March 22, 2023, Pastor Paul Mackenzie of the Good News International church in Malindi, Kilifi, was arrested after a Malindi Court ordered the exhumation of the minors’ bodies.
Mr. Isaac Ngala and Emily Kaunga, the children’s parents, are also named as suspects in their deaths.
According to Kenya’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the children were starved and then suffocated to death by their mother in order for them to become “heroes before God after death.”
The mother attends the pastor Mackenzie’s church.
According to the investigating officer, Joseph Yator of the Malindi Directorate of Criminal Investigation, police were able to save a third child.
“”The rescued child described his two siblings’ sufferings after they were starved for some time before their mother suffocated them to death,” the DPP said.
The three are suspected of burying the two minors in a shallow grave on March 16 and 17, respectively, in Shakahola village, Kilifi County.
“The exhumation will be overseen by a government pathologist and officers from DCI Malindi, with security provided by the sub-county police commander and area OCS. “Exhumed bodies will be examined, and DNA and toxicological samples will be collected,” said the DPP.
Malindi police chief John Kemboi confirmed the pastor’s arrest and stated that more information from preliminary investigations into the incident would be released on Thursday morning.
The report will also detail how many more children could have died as a result of their parents’ negligence following the radicalization in the pastor’s church.
Mr. Francis Wanje claimed that two of his grandchildren died after their parents were taught by the pastor to fast until they died.
Speaking to journalists during the arrest of the pastor, he stated that the main suspect has been claiming that there will be disasters in the near future and that it is therefore better for the children to die so that they can inherit the kingdom of heaven.
“Two of my grandchildren have already been buried, and the one who remains is preparing to die and rest. Their pastor warned them that disasters were on the way and that they should not be given food until they died. My grandchildren died in those strange circumstances, and we are relieved that the pastor has been apprehended by detectives “Mr Wanje stated.
Mr Mackenzie and his wife, Joyce Mwikamba, were charged with promoting radicalisation in 2017.
They were also charged with failing to provide their three children with a basic education.
