Kenyan President William Ruto established an investigative panel investigating the alleged hunger deaths of over a hundred people on Friday, while a court ordered the accused cult leader to remain in prison.
According to Kenyan authorities, the fatalities were all members of Paul Mackenzie’s Good News International Church, and Mackenzie had predicted the end of the world on April 15 and urged his followers to commit themselves in order to be among the first to enter heaven.
The current death toll in one of the biggest cult-related catastrophes in modern history is 111, but it might rise.
Neither the allegations nor his defense has compelled Mackenzie to make a public remark.
On Friday, he appeared in court in Mombasa, a major port city, where prosecutors sought that his custody be extended for another 90 days.
Mackenzie has been ordered to remain in jail until next Wednesday when he will decide on the prosecution’s request.
Mackenzie, who was wearing a black and pink suit and carrying his 2-year-old daughter, told reporters outside the courthouse that he and several of his supporters had been refused food. This has been contested by the prosecution.
Mackenzie was arrested earlier this year and subsequently released on bail after being accused of starving and suffocating two children to death.
According to family members of his followers, after he was freed, he returned to the forest where they were staying and altered the date of the end of the world from August to April 15.
Some Kenyan lawmakers have reacted by stating that the country’s security forces should have done more to prevent the deaths. On Friday, presidential spokesman Hussein Mohamed announced the creation of a commission of inquiry to determine whether the deaths were the result of administrative or intelligence shortcomings.
According to Mohamed, Ruto also formed a task force to investigate religious-group rules.
