President Ruto receives Shakahola taskforce report

President William Ruto on Tuesday received the report of the Presidential Taskforce on the Review of the Legal and Regulatory Framework Governing Religious Organisations in Kenya.

The taskforce was established in May last year in the wake of the Shakahola forest massacre in Malindi, Kilifi County, where over 400 people died after Paul Mackenzie of the Good News International Church ordered his followers to starve themselves and their children to death so that they could go to heaven.

The 17-member team chaired by Reverend Mutava Musyimi was tasked with identifying gaps that have allowed extremist religious organisations to set up shop in Kenya.

They were mandated to formulate a legal framework preventing radical religious entities from operating locally, and table proposals on civic education to sensitize Kenyans on the need to avoid religious cults.

Also expected from the team are recommendations on actions the State may take against individuals and organisations suspected of engaging in extremist religious practices.

Mackenzie is in police custody and has been charged with terrorism with 94 co-defendants. They pleaded not guilty to the charges at a hearing in January.

The 55 men and 40 women also face charges of murder, manslaughter, as well as child torture and cruelty in separate cases.

The remains of more than 440 people have been unearthed from Shakahola forest, where autopsies have found that while starvation appeared to be the main cause of death, some of the victims were strangled, beaten, or suffocated.

Previous court documents also said that some of the bodies had had their organs removed.