The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has stated that it has made significant gains toward unearthing the truth behind the Shakahola Massacre.
In a statement on Wednesday, DPP Renson Ingonga stated that they are now awaiting the results of the DNA analysis being undertaken by the government which are to be availed in two or three months.
Meanwhile, Ingonga added, his office will be seeking to have the court grant an application to detain the main suspect Pastor Paul Mackenzie, his 18 co-suspects, and 65 survivors for another 180 days until the analysis exercise is done.
“The continued detention of the suspects is necessitated by the fact that DNA analysis is incomplete and the process is lengthy considering the fact that the number of bodies to be analyzed against the number of DNA samples from relatives of the deceased,” said Ingonga.
The matter is scheduled for mention on October 19 in respect of Mackenzie and his 18 co-suspects while the survivors’ case will be heard on October 23.
“The Prosecution team handling the Shakahola massacre case will review the investigation files between 23rd and 28th October 2023, to determine whether or not the facts disclose any criminal culpability,” Ingonga noted.
The DPP asserted that they will remain committed to promote human rights and will ensure that those found culpable will be charged.
By the end of July, the government pathologist had conducted an autopsy on 364 bodies exhumed from the Shakahola forest.
The exhumation exercise had been suspended in July, to allow for the post-mortem examination of the bodies that had so far been taken to the Malindi sub-county hospital morgue.
Government pathologist Johansen Oduor had earlier intimated that the results of the autopsies would be released simultaneously as the exercise was part of a criminal investigation.
Meanwhile, families whose bodies of their kin were exhumed are calling for a release of the DNA profiles of the bodies to facilitate the handing over and subsequent burial of their loved ones.
