Dead bodies of 73 cult members who starved to death found in Kenya

The discovery of 73 dead bodies of people who starved themselves to death near the coastal town of Malindi has sent shockwaves through Kenya.

The body count in a case concerning a Kenyan cult that practised starvation climbed to 73 Monday, police sources told as investigators unearthed more corpses from mass graves in a forest near the coast.

Kenyan President William Ruto has vowed to crack down on "unacceptable" religious activities.

A full-scale probe has been started into the Good News International Church and its leader Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, who reportedly preached that death by starvation delivered followers to God.

Police had previously named the suspect Makenzie Nthenge.

It is believed some of his devotees could still be hiding in the bush around Shakahola, which was raided by police earlier this month after a tip-off from a local non-profit group.

Since then, several people have been recovered and dozens of bodies exhumed in mass burials dug in shallow holes.

A police officer told the media: "We have 73 bodies from the forest by this evening and the exercise will continue tomorrow."

He said: "It is a very sad state of affairs how these people died and were buried in shallow graves because we found six bodies squeezed in one grave today."

Another official also confirmed the death count, adding that some of the bodies were just in the forest and had not even been buried.

The count had earlier stood at 58, according to police chief Japhet Koome who visited the site on Monday.

A 325-hectare (800-acre) area has been deemed a crime scene as teams scour for more graves and potential cult survivors.

A native Ruto, speaking in Kiambu county neighbouring Nairobi, said there was "no difference" between rogue pastors like Nthenge and terrorists.

"Terrorists use religion to advance their heinous acts. People like Mr Mackenzie are using religion to do the same thing."

"I have instructed the agencies responsible to take up the matter and to get to the root cause and to the bottom of the activities of... people who want to use religion to advance a weird, unacceptable ideology."

Questions have emerged about how the cult operated undetected despite Nthenge attracting police attention six years earlier.

Amason Jeffah Kingi, the speaker of the senate said in a statement:

"The unfolding horror that is the Shakahola cult deaths should and must be a wake-up call to the nation, more particularly the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and our community policing programme."

"How did such a heinous crime, organized and executed over a considerable period, escape the radar of our intelligence system?"

Nthenge was arrested in 2017 on charges of "radicalisation" after urging families not to send their children to school, saying education was not recognised by the Bible.

He was arrested again last month, according to local media, after two children starved to death in the custody of their parents.

He was released on bail of 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($700) before surrendering to police following the Shakahola raid.

Another 14 people are also in custody over the Shakahola deaths, according to Koome. The case is due to be heard on May 2.