Malindi:The government has released the bodies of eight victims recovered from the Kwa Binzaro forest to four families residing in Migori, Homa Bay, and Busia Counties.
According to Kenya News Agency, the remains had been preserved at the Malindi mortuary in Kilifi County and were among 14 bodies identified through DNA profiling. Government Pathologist Dr. Richard Njoroge urged relatives whose DNA samples matched to claim their kin’s bodies and encouraged others who suspect their relatives were victims to provide DNA samples for identification.
Dr. Njoroge noted that 53 bodies and 44 body parts had been previously recovered by detectives and pathologists from shallow graves in the forest. Of the bodies released, four belonged to Migori families, two to a family in Homa Bay, and two to a family in Busia.
Titus Omondi, a grieving relative from Migori, shared that he lost six family members, including his brother, sister-in-law, and their four children. The family initially believed his brother, a prison officer, had gone to Russia for war or to Galana for farmland, only to later discover their bodies in Kwa Binzaro Forest. Omondi urged the government to take strict legal action against preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, accused of leading followers to fast to death in Kwa Binzaro and Shakahola forests.
Homicide detectives, under the direction of Martin Nyuguto, oversaw the release process.
