Police have arrested a suspected co-mastermind and the lead clergy attached to preacher Paul Mackenzie's church.
The man identified as "Pastor Zablon Wa Yesu", was found while reading a Bible on the 800-acre land owned by the suspected cult leader.
Zablon was among five people who were rescued on Monday during an operation by the police to find members of Pastor Mackenzie, who were hiding in the forest.
Pastor Zablon is the second senior member of the church to have been arrested.
The news of his ‘suicide sect’ in Kenya’s north coastal town of Malindi has since caught global attention.
In one of the videos uploaded on a YouTube channel, ‘End Times Breaking- Mackenzie’, the controversial preacher said he started preaching in 2010.
On Monday, police exhumed 20 more bodies at the 800-acre Shakahola land in Magarini, Kilifi.
This brought the number of bodies exhumed to 67.
Of the 20 bodies, six were found in one grave.
The bodies were exhumed even as investigations into pastor Paul Mackenzie’s church-like cult intensifies.
Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome and Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Amin Mohammed on Monday visited the area to oversee the exhumation of the bodies.
“Two teams are on the ground, one exhuming the bodies as another team combs the forest to try and rescue more people,” said Koome.
He said 29 more people had been rescued and they are investigating the ownership of that parcel of land.
