Kenyan doomsday starvation cultist dies in custody after hunger strike

Doomsday starvation cultist arrested over the death of 336 followers in Kenya dies in custody after going on hunger strike

  • Joseph Juma Buyuka was arrested alongside 29 other suspected cultists
  • He went on hunger strike earlier this month to protest his detention 

A Doomsday starvation cultist who was arrested for his alleged role in the death of 336 followers in Kenya has died in custody after going on hunger strike. 

Joseph Juma Buyuka, who was arrested alongside 29 other suspects over the cult, went on hunger strike earlier this month in protest against his detention. 

Bukuka was transported to a nearby hospital in the town of Malindi, south-eastern Kenya, before he died. Two others have been admitted in a critical condition.

‘We suspect that the deceased died from complications associated with a hunger strike. We can only await for a post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death,’ a senior prosecutor told a court in Mombasa, according to the BBC. 

Buyuka was arrested along with self-styled pastor Paul Mackenzie of Good News International Church, suspected of being involved in the mass deaths.

Joseph Juma Buyuka, who was arrested alongside 29 other suspects over the Kenyan doomsday cult, went on hunger strike earlier this month in protest against his detention. Pictured: Leader of the starvation cult Paul Mackenzie (left)

‘The police believe that these individuals… played significant roles in the offences leading to the deaths and illegal disposal of bodies in Shakahola (forest),’ court papers said of Buyuka and four others arrested with him. 

Authorities have exhumed most of the bodies from the forest in southeast Kenya since April 13, when the grim discovery was first made. 

So far, 336 bodies have been found. 600 people are still missing. 

Jami Yamina, senior prosecution counsel, said Buyuka had died two days ago at a hospital in Malindi, about 72 miles from the port city of Mombasa where he had been taken from a nearby prison.

‘He died …(due to) … complications from hunger strike and starvation, but we will await postmortem report,’ Yamina told a court in Mombasa. ‘Two other suspects … have also been taken ill. Police believe it is related to their hunger strike.’

Mackenzie is accused of ordering his followers to starve their children and themselves to death so they could reach heaven before the end of the world. 

The taxi driver-turned-preacher handed himself over to police in April and was denied bail last month. He is due to face charges of ‘terrorism’ in the case which has rocked the east African nation.

The other suspects were arrested later after authorities started the exhumations.

He and the others have not yet been required to enter a plea.

The court is set to decide next Tuesday whether Mackenzie should remain in police custody for another 60 days.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki had expressed concern in May that some of Mackenzie’s rescued followers were refusing food.

One of them had died, he said at the time.

Authorities have exhumed most of the bodies (pictured) from the forest in southeast Kenya since April 13, when the grim discovery was first made. So far, 336 bodies have been found. 600 people are still missing

Kenyan homicide detectives and forensic experts from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), examine exhumed bodies from several shallow mass graves, April 23

Kenyan country fear the true number of dead could be much higher than 336.

The search for mass graves is still under way in the Shakahola forest, where the first victims – some dead, others alive but weakened and emaciated – were first found.

Since then, the series of grim discoveries has revealed a macabre scandal, dubbed the ‘Shakahola forest massacre’.

Investigations have been extended beyond the original 325 hectares to cover almost 15,000 hectares. More than 600 people have been reported missing by relatives.

Police believe that most of the bodies exhumed were those of followers of the Good News International Church, an evangelical sect founded in 2003 by Mackenzie, who advocated fasting until death in order to ‘meet Jesus’.

While starvation appears to be the main cause of death, some of the victims – including children – were strangled, beaten or suffocated, according to chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor.

Questions have been raised about how Mackenzie, a father of seven, managed to evade law enforcement despite a history of extremism and previous legal cases.

The horrific saga has stunned Kenyans and led President William Ruto to set up a commission of inquiry into the deaths and a task force to review regulations governing religious bodies.

Another pastor accused of links to Mackenzie and to the bodies found in the forest was released on bail at a court hearing.

Ezekiel Odero, a high-profile and wealthy televangelist, is being investigated on a raft of charges including murder, aiding suicide, abduction, radicalisation, crimes against humanity, child cruelty, fraud and money laundering. 

Police believe most of the bodies found in a forest near the Indian Ocean town of Malindi belong to followers of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie

In all, at least 35 people suspected of involvement have been arrested, according to police who say 95 of the church’s followers have been recovered alive since the start of operations.

Earlier in June, 65 were brought before a court in the city of Mombasa to face charges of ‘attempted suicide’, because they refused to eat or drink. Prosecutors asked that they be detained, so that they can be examined and forced to eat.

The death cult case has rekindled debate on the regulation of religious worship in this predominantly Christian country, which has 4,000 ‘churches’, according to official figures.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki has announced that the authorities were going to turn the Shakahola forest into a ‘place of remembrance… so that Kenyans and the world will not forget what happened’.

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