Rescued, fasting cult followers continue hunger strike

Court documents released by Kenya's Attorney General's office on June 15 show that a judge ordered a mental competency assessment of the victims rescued from the International Protestant hunger strike sect, because they repeatedly refused to eat after being taken from Shakahola Forest.

"The results of each victim's assessment must be kept confidential and not shared with the media unless directed by the court," the judge's ruling said.

Of the 64 rescued worshippers, one woman “refused to comply with court rules, including eating and drinking,” the prosecutor said. She will be held in prison pending trial in late June.

On the same day, Kenyan authorities discovered 15 more bodies, bringing the death toll related to the hunger strike to 318. Most of the bodies discovered in Shakahola Forest, near the eastern town of Malindi, were followers of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, the leader of the International Protestant sect.

Fasting cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie at a hearing on June 14. Photo: CNN

Mackenzie, 50, was arrested on April 14 and faces "terrorism" charges in what has been described as the "Shakahola Forest massacre" that has shocked the East African nation.

Mackenzie urged his followers to fast to death “to meet Jesus.” Experts say most of the victims died from starvation, but some, including children, showed signs of strangulation, beatings or asphyxiation.

Mackenzie and 29 accomplices were transferred to prison by police. However, only Mackenzie and his assistant Smart Mwakalama have been eating, while the other suspects continue their hunger strike. The 16 were assessed as "increasingly weak", with some collapsing on the way to court on June 14.

The International Evangelical Church was founded in Kenya in 2003 by Mackenzie and his wife, Joyce Mwikamba, as a small missionary center. Mackenzie had previously worked as a taxi driver in Nairobi from 1997 to 2003. During this time, he was arrested four times for his sermons, but was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

As the organization began to grow, the Mackenzies moved to the village of Migingo in Malindi, where they established a church. Mackenzie attracted a large following, largely through his claims that he could communicate with God.

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