• Committee chairman Danson Mungatana (Tana River) told the Star that Kindiki will be questioned from 10am.
• Kenyans have been questioning how police and other security officers failed to detect the deaths that have caught the country and the world by surprise.
Image: FILE
A Senate committee probing the mysterious cult deaths in Kilifi will on Wednesday question Interior CS Kithure Kindiki and Attorney General Justin Muturi.
The two will be the first to appear before the ad hoc committee that has lined-up several people and groups for questioning as it seeks to get to the bottom of the deaths.
Committee chairman Danson Mungatana (Tana River) told the Star that Kindiki will be questioned from 10am.
“We are starting our meetings on Wednesday with the Cabinet Secretary for Interior appearing in the morning and the Attorney General in the afternoon,” Mungatana said.
At least 110 bodies of persons believed to be of members of the Good News International who starved themselves to death after extremist teaching by Paul Mackenzie have been exhumed.
Postmortems done on the bodies have revealed that some of the victims starved to death while others were strangled.
The panel will investigate the role played by Mackenzie, his pastoral team and the Kilifi county security committee in aiding and abetting the deaths of the church followers.
The CS will explain how and why the mysterious mass deaths escaped the radar of the security apparatus.
Kenyans have been questioning how police and other security officers failed to detect the deaths that have caught the country and the world by surprise.
Kilifi county police boss, subcounty commanders, chiefs, Nyumba Kumi officials and the county team have been on the spot for laxity.
Kindiki will also be expected to disclose the actions the state has taken since the revelations emerged more than three weeks ago.
Two weeks ago, Kindiki moved all the county security officers in the county as investigations continue into the deaths and whether the officials aided the same.
The President has also picked a commission of inquiry led by Justice Jessie Lessit to probe the deaths.
The CS will explain government plans to raid rogue preachers to prevent such an occurrence in future.
Muturi, who will appear alongside the registrar of societies, will explain whether Mackenzi’s church was registered.
The committee seeks to establish the registration status of religious organisations and the mitigation measures of the current case and regulations, if any, in use to control religious entities and their activities.
The committee will then move to Kilifi county, where it will meet the county government and its leadership, the county commissioner and the county security team.
The committee will also conduct a site visit to Shakahola Forest and meet the families of the victims.
It will also visit the New Life Prayer Centre in Mavueni, Kilifi county, which is linked to Pastor Ezekiel Odero.
The committee will also hold meetings with religious organisations where they will discuss measures that can avert religious extremism.
Some of the organisations are NCCK, Hindu Council of Kenya, Supkem, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops and other religious organisations and traditional groups.
The committee is also expected to invite members of the public with information to submit their views on the matter to the committee.