Police arrest Mackenzie assistant’s wife over links to his church, cult deaths
Forensic investigators are expected back at Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County today to exhume more bodies of victims of a cult linked to Paul Mackenzie’s Good News International Church.
Detectives yesterday arrested Ms Mary Smart, the wife of Mackenzie acolyte and second-in-command Smart Mwakalama.
She was interrogated at the Malindi Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) office for over three hours about her role in the church's suspicious activities.
The mother of six then asked to see her children, who, she said, she left in Shakahola Forest two weeks ago.
Ms Smart was among nine people rescued by police on Sunday night.
She was taken to Malindi Sub-county Hospital for medical attention and given rice and meat to eat.
Yesterday around 1pm, she was taken to Malindi Police Station for questioning. When asked what she would like to eat, she asked her sister Naomi Kahindi to buy her bread and a soft drink.
She also asked for a toothbrush, noting that she had last cleaned her teeth two weeks ago. Her arrest means the church's top leadership is in police custody as investigations continue into the cult’s activities, which have seen 201 bodies exhumed from the forest.
Meanwhile, President William Ruto has asked for forgiveness for the Shakahola mass killings, admitting laxity and complacency by several government agencies.
This comes after the number of exhumed bodies climbed past the 200 mark.
"I take responsibility as President. The promise I am making to Kenyans is that we will get to the bottom of this matter," Dr Ruto said in a televised interview with local media houses on Sunday.
He lay blame on the National Intelligence Service (NIS), DCI, National Police Service, chiefs and their assistants and Nyumba Kumi officials for failing to detect the sect's activities in time.
The President also promised to visit Malindi once the multi-agency team on the ground has completed its forensic analysis, as he defended why he had not yet been to the site.
"The place has been declared a crime scene and a security operation is underway," he said
The President claimed that Opposition leader Raila Odinga's visit to Shakahola was political.
"To go there as a political figure, what does it help? Is he a security expert? A doctor? Is he going to exhume bodies? " he said.
On journalists being denied access to Shakahola forest to cover the exhumations, the President said: "What would there be to hide about graves and dead people?”.
On growing calls to regulate the Church, he said: "I know there are people who are nervous. They say we should not regulate the Church. Let's have an institution that regulates itself." BY DAILY NATION
Post a Comment