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President William Ruto yesterday declared the perpetrators of Shakahola massacre were ‘criminals’ and vowed that the government will deal firmly with the cult leaders even as horrific details emerged of how children were starved to death or buried alive.

He urged Kenyans to give the government time to comprehensively investigate the Shakahola deaths, which have left the nation in shock over its scale and the fact that the deaths went unreported despite the high numbers.

So far, over 200 bodies have been exhumed while close to 600 people who are reported to have been members of the doomsday cult led by Pastor Paul Mackenzie are still missing, raising fears that the death toll will rise as exhumations continue tomorrow after a two-day break.

“Many Christians are wondering how we got to this,” Ruto said at AIC Milimani in Nairobi where he attended Sunday service. “Today, we have graves and over 200 Kenyans have lost their lives in a place where the word of God was being preached. I want to assure that even in this challenge and dark cloud, God will help us and we will rise again.”

He asked for more time to complete investigations. “Our security agents are working round the clock so that we can unravel these acts that shame the people who want to abuse the sanctity of religion and cause loss of lives in the country,” he said.

His remarks came days after clerics from various denominations protested over a government decision to form a commission of inquiry to investigate churches and a task force that will give recommendations on how churches should be regulated.

Ruto said the government had taken a firm decision that it will deal with individuals who abuse the sanctity of faith in the same way it deals with all other criminals.

Ruto spoke as horrific details emerged of how children were targeted as the first to be starved to death in the final days before news of the mass deaths came to light earlier in March.

A report by the BBC quoted a former deputy preacher at Good News International Church telling New York Times that children were ordered “to fast in the sun” to make them die faster. Women and men followed in that order, according to the interview with Titus Katana, who deputised Mackenzie.

Katana — who is helping police with investigations — also described to the Sunday Times the alleged brutal treatment the children were exposed to, saying they would be locked up in huts for five days without food or water, BBC reported.

“Then they wrapped in blankets and buried, even the ones still breathing,” he was quoted as saying. It is alleged that the cult followers were told they would reach heaven faster if they starved themselves. Postmortem examinations on some of the bodies found signs of starvation, suffocation and beatings.

Mackenzie said he closed down his church four years ago after nearly two decades of operation.

However, his sermons are still available online, and some appeared to have been recorded after the alleged closure of the controversial church.

Mackenzie routinely preached against education, saying it was satanic.

Katana told the New York Times that Mackenzie came to that controversial conclusion after receiving a “revelation from God”.

Explaining his reasoning for leaving the cult, Katana said the teachings had become too “strange”.

Mackenzie also warned mothers against seeking medical attention during childbirth and not to vaccinate their children.

Illegal activities

Speaking yesterday, President Ruto said no blame should be put on the church because of the illegal activities of a few people.

“Because we know the God we believe in, we should be strong even in the face of Shakahola, in the current situation that is raising more questions than answers and I want to assure you that the government will get to the bottom of what really happened,” he said and challenged religious organisations to work with the government to prevent similar tragedies from recurring.

He said the religious fraternity should be involved in formulating a benchmark on how to avoid situations where individuals abuse religion to exploit believers and even destroy lives.

“We have to be sensitive and I am confident that our religious leaders will give us the guidance on how we are going to make sure that true religion, believing in God, our faith and commitment to scripture is not taken advantage of by people who have aims that are not legitimate,” he told the congregation.

Speaking separately, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua insisted that the government was only interested in weeding out rogue religious groups and would not in any way interfere with the operation of churches in the ongoing purge against cults and sects.

Defending the church as a pillar of the society, Gachagua maintained that the happenings at Shakahola should not be taken as the norm in religious institutions.

Article 32 the Constitution guarantees religious freedoms, including the freedom to practice any religion or belief through worship, teaching, or observance and to debate religious questions.

The DP said the government was not on a mission to interfere with that liberty. He, however, warned that rogue clerics must and will be weeded out to protect Kenyans from exploitation and being brainwashed.

Gachagua made the remarks at Full Gospel Church in Juja during a funeral service for the late John Ndung’u, father of Juja MP George Koimburi.

“What happened in Kilifi is isolated to some individuals and not the entire church. Churches have enemies who would like to injure its name using the small thing that happened there. We are saying that rogue clerics be removed from the church so as to better operate the crucial institutions,” the DP said.