On Thursday, a Kenyan court accused the leader of a starvation cult with terrorism after over 400 followers died.
Self-proclaimed preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and 94 other accused have pleaded “not guilty” to allegations of radicalization.
According to documents seen by AFP, the cult leader was also charged with “organised criminal activity”.
Mackenzie is accused of inciting his acolytes to starve to death in order to “meet Jesus” in a case that shocked the world.
He was arrested last April after bodies were discovered in the Shakahola forest near the Indian Ocean.
Autopsies revealed that the majority of the 429 victims had died of hunger.
However, others, including children, appeared to have been strangled, battered, or suffocated.
Mackenzie’s pre-trial incarceration in the seaside city of Mombasa was extended numerous times as the prosecution requested more time to investigate the case.
However, a court told officials last week that the former taxi driver would be released unless charges were brought within 14 days.
Fringe denominations
Prosecutors will also perform mental health assessments to determine if 31 suspects, including Mackenzie, are fit to face trial for murder at a court in Malindi.
A judge at the Malindi court ordered the 31 defendants to enter pleas on February 6.
On Tuesday, the director of public prosecutions announced that there was enough evidence to charge 95 suspects with murder, manslaughter, and terrorism.
The terrible case, called the “Shakahola forest massacre,” prompted the authorities to emphasize the necessity for stricter control over fringe denominations.
Mackenzie was charged with excessive preaching in 2017, according to a Senate committee of inquiry report released in October.
In 2017, he was acquitted of radicalization charges for illegally giving school lessons after rejecting the established educational system, which he argued was incompatible with the Bible.
In 2019, he was also suspected of being involved in the deaths of two children who were allegedly malnourished, smothered, and buried in a shallow grave in Shakahola jungle. He was released on bond while the trial is proceeding.
Kenya, a mostly Christian country, has struggled to oversee unscrupulous churches and cults engaged in criminal activity.
According to government estimates, the East African country of 53 million people has almost 4,000 registered churches.