Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki on Friday ordered the suspension of the process of exhuming bodies from the 800-acre land inside Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County.

Kindiki, who visited Chakama Ranch in Shakahola for the second time this week, says the government’s security agencies made the decision due to the bad weather being witnessed.

The suspension of the exercise comes after a total of 103 bodies of suspected followers of polemic Kilifi pastor Paul Mackenzie were found buried in shallow graves in the vast ranch.

The CS said experts advised those conducting the exercise against continuing with the exhumations due to sensitivity needed in the process for the purpose of court processes.

“The ground must be dry to a certain level so that they are able to conduct the exhumations without interfering with the evidence or further damaging the bodies,” stated Kindiki.

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He says the exercise will proceed as soon as the weather in the Shakahola area improves.

“We have suspended the exhumations because of the weather and as soon as it dries up a little bit we will resume,” he said.

Kindiki defended the decision to bar journalists and human rights activists from the site saying it is only meant to preserve the integrity of the evidence at the scene due to the court requirements.


“The process of exhuming the bodies is a court-ordered process; It is done based on certain ethical and professional standards, that's why we cannot allow everybody to take part in the exhumation, or to take images,” the CS intimated.

He added that the government was also limiting access to the grounds by security agents.

“Such images are limited even by international law because they constitute outrageous crimes against human duty.


“These are the bodies of people's loved ones and kin and so there is a limit even in terms of what security agents can do.”

This comes as the bodies exhumed from the scene surpassed 100 on Thursday, with police barring media and human rights bodies from accessing the scene amid wild speculations.