Why some Shakahola victims may end up in mass graves – Pathologist

"Some relatives said they didn’t want to be associated with their kin who willingly joined Mackenzie’s church."

In Summary
  • Some relatives have refused to undertake a DNA test to match the bodies with their respective families.
  • Oduor revealed that so far 429 autopsies had been conducted with the results for the DNA tests being waited for.
Government pathologist Johansen Oduor at the ongoing Kemri' annual scientific and health conference at Safari Park on February 15, 2024.
Government pathologist Johansen Oduor at the ongoing Kemri' annual scientific and health conference at Safari Park on February 15, 2024.
Image: MAGDALINE SAYA

Government pathologist Johansen Oduor has revealed a possibility of some bodies exhumed from Shakahola being buried in mass grave.

Speaking at the ongoing Kemri Annual Scientific and Health Conference in Nairobi on Thursday, Oduor said that identifying some of the bodies exhumed from the forest last year has been challenging.

This is because some relatives have refused to undertake a DNA test to match the bodies with their respective families.

According to the pathologist, some of the relatives who showed up said they didn’t want to be associated with their kin who had willingly joined Paul Mackenzie’s church.

“Once you have collected DNA samples of the deceased, you have to match to the relatives so that we can know this person is related to this person,” the government pathologist said.

“Some of them came and gave their samples but some of them refused because they were telling us the person went to Mackenzie hence they don’t want anything to do with them.

"They said they are not going to be involved and what do that mean, we will not be able to identify some of these people and so we resort to the mass grave, that is what will happen,” Oduor said.

Oduor revealed that so far 429 autopsies had been conducted with the results for the DNA tests being waited for.

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