Religious violence has regrettably been common place around the world and often reflects serious sectarian divisions in society or rejections of political leadership. Sometimes however the abhorrent nature and extent of violence committed by religious groups can lead to a definition of terrorism by the state.
One recent example has been the horrific massacre and loss of human life seen in Kenya, in 2023 at the hands of the radical Christian cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie. In 2023 it was discovered that in the remote village of Shakahola village, hundreds of people had been massacred including many women and children. Under the ideology of the earlier American preacher William Marrion Branham, Mackenzies church ‘Good News International Ministries’ preached the end of the world in a doomsday scenario. Mackenzie and other co-conspirators led hundreds of individuals to starve themselves to death in a bid to ‘meet Jesus’ ahead of the end of the world. However not only were people led to self inflicted death but many after autopsy’s, have also been found to have been beaten to death and asphyxiated.
So far around 429 victims have been discovered from mass graves located around the 800 acre property in remote Malindi. Though it is expected that there may be many more, as over 200 individuals are still unaccounted for. The horrific nature of the crimes has led the Kenyan president William Ruto to claim “This horrendous blight on our conscience must lead not only to the most severe punishment of the perpetrator(s) of the atrocity on so many innocent souls, but tighter regulation (including self-regulation) of every church, mosque, temple or synagogue going forward.” Mackenzie and co-conspirators have been arrested under the Kenyan Prevention of Terrorism act. The legal scope and definitions of this legislation are broad and encompass factors from ‘involves the use of violence against a person,’ to ‘prejudices national security or public safety’.
When police first entered the community to investigate, they discovered emaciated people and shallow graves. Fifteen members of the group were rescued by police. They stated that they had been ordered to starve themselves to death to “meet Jesus.” The fifteen followers were in poor condition, and four died before they reached a hospital. Prosecutors have gone on to accuse Mackenzie of hiring criminals to kill followers who changed their minds and sought to escape the farm.
In largely Christian Kenya, this event has cast a spotlight on failed efforts to regulate unscrupulous churches and cults that have co-opted criminality. These kind of violent incidents also throw in to question what acts are ultimately classed as terrorism? Whilst the regularly cited Terrorism definition “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims,” requires a political dimension, many would argue that the sheer scale of human suffering would clearly class as a terrorist act. This is clear within the Kenyan Prevention of Terrorism Act and for comparison the 1988 Al-Qaeda bombings in Kenya killed less than half of the numbers seen in the Shakhola massacre.
New Religious Groups have been on the rise in Kenya and across East Africa. This horrific incident has caused politicians to look closer at the unregulated nature of these groups. It seems clear that stricter regulation and monitoring is required to prevent any further terrorist atrocities from being carried out by corrupt and evil leaders.