2 Kenyan pastors appear in court over parishioners’ deaths

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Two Kenyan pastors appeared in separate courts Tuesday over the deaths of more than 100 of their parishioners, many of whom are believed to have starved to death.

Pastor Paul Mackenzie and Pastor Ezekiel Odero are accused of encouraging their followers to harm themselves to meet Jesus.

Mackenzie was released by Ivy Wasike, a magistrate in the town of Malindi, who said the court lacks jurisdiction to hear his case. He was immediately rearrested outside the court and transferred to the Shanzu Law Court in Mombasa, an upper court which specializes in hearing terrorism-related cases.

Mackenzie, who police have labeled a cult leader, was produced in the Malindi court along with six of his followers

He is being investigated over the deaths of 109 people who were found buried on his church’s grounds after allegedly being starved to death in what authorities are calling the Shakahola Massacre.

Mackenzie's wife Rhoda Maweu has also been arrested as a person of interest in the case.

Odero, whose New Life Prayer Centre and Church is in the same county as Mackenzie's, appeared in a Mombasa court on Tuesday to answer for similar deaths in Kilifi County.

Police have also connected Odero to Mackenzie.

Charges against Odero include money laundering, kidnapping, crimes against humanity and conspiracy to commit murder.

The chief government pathologist, Johansen Oduor, told reporters that autopsies conducted on 40 of Pastor Mackenzie's followers indicated death by starvation and suffocation involving both adults and children.

Authorities say the death toll is likely to rise as exhumation efforts have been temporarily halted due to heavy rains.