The Senate Ad Hoc Committee Probing the Shakahola deaths on Saturday visited the scene where 235 bodies have so far been exhumed.
The Committee led by Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana described the scene as horrific and an Act of genocide.
In the morning, the committee visited the county Commissioner’s office before touring the Shakahola Command Center and were later taken to the scene where exhumation took place.
They were also taken to Galilee where Mackenzie lived, Jerusalem and described it as one of the worst tragedies in the history of the country.
“We have been able today to visit the place known as Galilea where Mackenzie was having his house, we have been able to see where he would institute punishment and judgment at that Galilea place,” he said.
Addressing journalists after the tour and brief meeting with the security team conducting the search and rescue operation and exhumation, Mungatana said as a committee they will do their best to tell Kenyans exactly what happened.
He said as they were touring, they found three skeletons of bodies recovered in the forest by the security personnel conducting search and rescue.
“We have come face to face with the depth of our people who died here, and the skeletons of people who were found here, we have come face to face with the ugly side of radicalization and the misuse of religion,” he said.
He said in their probe they will go to many parts of the country where Mackenzie reportedly had branches of his Good News International Church and meet all kinds of people to get as much information as possible.
He said the committee is welcoming any information from anyone wherever he or she is that will help in unraveling the mystery behind the radical teachings of the pastor so as to come up with a conclusive report within the 90 days period given by the state.
The Committee Chairman said the process will be transparent and open to the public and that the report shall be tabled in parliament for debate so as to add more details or approve what they will recommend for action to be taken against those behind the mass deaths.
Mungatana said while inside the forest, they were shown a mass grave that was carrying 67 people at a place called Bethlehem and the headquarters -galilee.
He said they have had meetings with religious leaders and NGOs and collected information on their views.
The senator said they will bring in some form of control to bring balance between freedom of speech and public safety to prevent other Mackenzie types of people from operating.
“We want to appeal to our people to be patient with us, we also appeal to those who have lost their loved ones some have been reconnected some have not and we want them to be patient because even the DNA process will take time,” he said.
He called on the Kenyans to give the people time to complete the process but assured the nation that such genocide will never happen again.
“For the remaining days we will execute this mandate and we will come up with a good report and we are promising Kenyans this will not happen again,” he said.
The Chairman said they have been reliably informed that there are other forces behind the cultic teachings and vowed to go to the bottom of the matter.
He said they were not a Judicial commission or a court and would collect all the information they will get to be used in their report to make a legislative framework on how religious institutions will operate.
The legislator said there were complaints from locals that they reported to Police but action was not taken as fast as it was.
He said they are waiting for the Department of Police dealing with international affairs to submit their report after completing their probe which will be part of the senate report and all those who will be mentioned shall be dealt with in accordance to the law.
Mungatana was accompanied by His Vice Chair and Nominated Senator Shakila Abdalla, Migori Senator Eddy Oketch, Tabitha Mutinda (nominated) Faki Mohamed (Mombasa), William Cheptumo (Baringo), Veronica Maina (nominated), Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka and Hamida Kibwana.
Nominated Senator Tabitha Mutinda called on the interior CS Kithure Kindiki to speed up the development of a police station and equip it with facilities as currently, the nearest police station is far.
While commending the team conducting the operation, she said the team has confirmed they are well set with a counseling team.
“We ask the CS to be able to fast-track the process of equipping the police station to be able to operate and serve the residents,” she said.
The exhumation was suspended by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki.
Kindiki on Saturday clarified that only the search for graves and exhumation of the victims of the Shakahola Massacre had been suspended.
"We suspended the exercise to allow for logistical arrangements for the post-mortem examination of the additional 123 bodies recovered in phase 2 of the exhumation exercise," the CS said.
Kindiki said phase 2 of the post-mortem exercise will commence on Wednesday, May 24.
The post-mortem exercise will be conducted at the Malindi Sub-County Hospital.