Detectives from the Homicide Unit have uncovered thirteen new graves in Kwa Binzaro, Chakama, around the home of the prime suspect apprehended last month over the new wave of cult deaths in the expansive forest.

Some graves are feared to contain multiple bodies, mostly belonging to children who detectives believe were casualties of forced starvation.In some cases, human bones lay exposed, believed to have been unearthed by hyenas roaming the area.

Homicide Director Martin Nyuguto and his team of forensic experts spent the better part of Friday combing through five acres of land, identifying and marking graves of those suspected to have died and been buried in shallow graves within the forest.

One by one, the detectives used geo-location devices to map, identify and mark graves scattered within three abandoned homesteads.

The graves are hidden deep in the thicket. In one, the ribs of the deceased are visible from a sunken grave, with cracks in the soil hinting at recent disturbance. It appears wild animals might have dug them out in search of food.

Some graves are fresh and concealed under bushes, suggesting recent burials and raising fears that more people could still be fasting in the forest. 

It also points to the grim reality that others remain inside to enforce the fast, dig the graves and bury the dead even after controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie and his followers were flushed from Shakahola forest, which is part of the expansive Chakama Ranch.

A walk through the forest reveals a disturbing pattern.  Signs of disturbed soil appear every 50 metres or less, suggesting the number of burials could be far higher than initially thought. The thick vegetation forms a natural screen, making it almost impossible to spot a grave without close inspection.

In Shakahola, many graves lay outside homesteads, making them easier to identify.

In Kwa Binzaro, however, they are scattered in remote pockets of bush, concealed not with crops, as Mackenzie’s followers once used to hide burial mounds, but with dense wild growth. In some cases, when DCI officers dig, they uncover evidence of mass burials.

It is a punishing walk through twisting, narrow forest paths, past thorny bushes and tangled vines, to reach the secret graves of Kwa Binzaro. 

Here, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations move cautiously, guided by handheld geo-location devices and stopping at suspicious patches of disturbed soil hidden under thick shrubs.

Unlike Shakahola, where graves were often near homesteads, Kwa Binzaro’s dead lie scattered far from any settlement, concealed deep in the thicket.

The perpetrators appeared to have gone to extraordinary lengths to erase their tracks by flattening the soil, covering mounds with fresh vegetation and planting dense bushes to camouflage the burial sites.

Each time the investigators confirm a grave, they cordon it off with bright police tape, marking it for exhumation. The work is treacherous, as the graves are scattered, irregular and in some cases so well-hidden that only a trained eye or the grim clues left by hyenas can reveal what lies beneath.

Detectives often mark sites where a skull or part of a human skeleton has been found as possible burial locations.

Unlike in the Shakahola massacre, the perpetrators in this new wave of deaths appear to have deliberately hidden the graves, digging them deep within the thicket and concealing them with wild vegetation. The investigators have declared the site a crime scene.

So far, eleven deaths linked to the cult have been confirmed in Kwa Binzaro, including bodies recovered from the forest and skulls stored at the Malindi mortuary. The latest discoveries bring the number of known graves to 21, with more expected to be found.

Police are urging families of missing Good News International followers to provide DNA samples to help identify the victims once exhumations begin.

Mr Nyuguto said that exhumations will start immediately after the mapping is complete. A team comprising Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor and morticians is expected to join the DCI on the ground before the exercise officially begins.

Earlier, the team had been expected to commence exhumations on Thursday, but the process stalled after Dr Oduor and his team failed to arrive.

On  July 29,  the court allowed the DCI’s application to exhume bodies suspected to have been buried in Kwa Binzaro for autopsy, DNA and toxicology analysis to determine the cause of death. 

The order authorises the Chief Government Pathologist, assisted by homicide detectives, to carry out the exhumations at Binzaro village, Chakama, under security provided by the Malindi Sub County Police Commander, the OCS Lango Baya and the Shakahola command centre. 

The Malindi Sub County Hospital will store the exhumed bodies, while public health officers will oversee safety during the process.

The application was prompted by reports of unreported deaths in the area, including a disclosure from one victim that six of his children had died and were secretly buried. Police site visits uncovered scattered human remains, including skulls and a fresh body in the thicket. 

Investigators believe the victims were starved or suffocated to death as part of radical religious practices aimed at “pleasing God.”

Citing the Criminal Procedure Code and the Public Health Act, the court ruled that exhumations were necessary in the public interest to establish the cause of death, noting there was compelling evidence and urgency in the matter. 

Eleven people are currently in custody over the new deaths and are assisting police with investigations to identify all those behind the Kwa Binzaro cult killings.