The leader of a sect in eastern Kenya surrendered to police who were searching for him after the deaths of four followers whom he allegedly asked to fast to “meet Jesus,” police announced on Saturday. Eleven other members of the Good News International Church, led by Makenzie Nthenge, were hospitalized, three of them in critical condition, after being rescued on Friday from the Shakahola forest near the town of Malindi.
“The pastor is in custody after surrendering because he knew he was being sought,” said Charles Kamau, chief of criminal investigations in Malindi. Police went to the forest on the Kenyan coast on Friday after receiving information about “ignorant citizens who died of hunger on the pretext of meeting Jesus after being brainwashed” by Nthenge, according to a police report. The four deceased followers have not yet been identified. The 11 who were taken to the hospital are seven men and four women, aged 17 to 49, he added.
Police are still searching the Shakahola forest on Saturday due to information indicating a possible grave where other followers could be buried. “There are suspected to be many victims,” the police report notes.
According to local media, Makenzie Nthenge was arrested and charged last month after two children died of hunger while under their parents’ care. He was released on bail equivalent to about 670 euros.