The recent mass murders in Shakahola have shaken the world, with close to 100 bodies exhumed from the shallow graves of Pastor Mackenzie’s Good News International Church land.
The victims voluntarily starved themselves to death in order to meet Jesus, as preached by pastor Mackenzie. But once the dust settles, who really is to blame for this tragic loss of lives?
The blame game has begun, with everyone pointing fingers at each other but themselves. The opposition is blaming the executive, the police are blaming the controversial pastor, and the speaker of the Senate is blaming NIS.
But the truth is, we are all to blame for these deaths. As a society, we have failed to be our brother’s keepers, caring only for ourselves and our immediate families.
Our elected representatives are not exempt from blame either. They have been elected to represent us and have let the county of Kilifi down. From the President to the area member of the county assembly, they have all been asleep on the job and failed to realise that such atrocities have been happening under their noses for a better part of a decade.
But perhaps the biggest failure lies with the police, who are entrusted with maintaining law and order, preventing and detecting crime, and enforcing all laws and regulations. Our police seem more interested in playing politics rather than doing their job. Lives have been lost as a result, and someone needs to be held accountable.
Civil society organisations, including myself, should also bear some responsibility for failing to flag this issue in good time. Religion seems to be a blind spot for all of us, and we tend to stay away from matters of faith for fear of backlash. However, religion is not the problem; it is the people and how they interpret the scriptures that lead to violence and wrongdoing.
We must acknowledge this as a societal failure and learn from it, ensuring we never experience such a tragedy again. We must all look internally and accept our roles in this disaster, and each and every one of us must be held individually and collectively responsible.
In my experience, religion is not inherently bad; it is the actions of its followers that can be harmful. Scholars and experts on religion have noted that people bring their violence and extremism to religion and not the other way around. Therefore, it is important to address the root causes of violence and extremism rather than blaming religion as a whole.
The recent massacres in Shakahola are a wake-up call for us all. We must come together as a society and take responsibility for our actions. Blaming each other will not bring back the lives lost, nor will it prevent tragedies from happening again. We must work together to create a society that values the lives of its members and forges a path towards a brighter future.
Lawyer and executive director of Muslims for Human Rights (Muhuri)
