The government has suspended the exhumation of bodies at Shakahola forest, even as the death toll hit 336 on Friday, June 16, 2023.
The government has suspended the exhumation exercise to prepare for autopsy examination on the bodies already exhumed.
10 more bodies were exhumed on Friday, while no rescues were made. As a result, the number of those rescued alive remained at 95.
Only 19 have been identified by their kin, while those missing are 613 according to government records.
Shakahola’s future
Early this month, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki announced that Shakahola forest would be converted into a national museum.
Speaking when he visited the crime scene in Malindi, Kilifi County, on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, Kindiki said the area will be converted into a national memorial in remembrance of the many lives lost in the 800-acre land once the ongoing exhumation exercise is complete.
“Shakahola forest, the scene of crime where these grave crimes have been committed, can not remain as it was. The Government will convert it into a national memorial, a place of remembrance so that Kenyans and the world do not forget what happened here,” Kindiki said.
Controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie, who is currently in police custody, is the prime suspect in the deaths.
