The government has announced plans to hold an interdenominational prayer service in Shakahola forest to give the public an opportunity to mourn those who died in the massacre.
A statement released Tuesday evening by the Interior Ministry and attributed to cabinet secretary Kithure Kindiki did not, however, say when the prayers will be held.
"According to Kindiki Kithure, the event will take the form of a national prayer day during which Kenyans will make a “major pronouncement in solidarity with the victims of the egregious crime” and reaffirm the commitment to safeguarding the true values of faith and freedom of worship," the statement said.
Kindiki on Tuesday toured the forest and launched the third phase of the exhumation process following the discovery of 22 new mass graves last week.
He was accompanied by Interior PS Raymond Omollo, Director General of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin and forensic experts.
"As I have said before, as the Government, we have nothing to hide and will tell the world exactly what is happening at Shakahola Forest. We will also ensure that such a tragedy does not occur again in our country," Kindiki said.
The death toll from the Shakahola massacre currently stands at 251 following the exhumation of nine more bodies on Tuesday.
The body count is expected to rise in the coming days as exhumation continues.
A task force on regulation of religious organizations has been tasked to collect public views from Kenyans from June 13 with its first sittings at Kilifi Social Hall.
A day later, the sittings will be taken to Lamu, Tana River and Kwale counties before the task force heads to Homa Bay, Vihiga and Kakamega on June 9.
Hearings will be held in the other counties between June 20 and July 31 while residents in Nairobi will be invited to give their views between August 2 and 8, 2023.
Kindiki said on Sunday the resultant recommendations from the hearings will help the government to come up with policies and laws on how to regulate religious organisations for the purposes of exterminating religious extremism in the country.
Good News International Church preacher Pastor Paul Mackenzie has been accused of brainwashing his followers into fasting to death in the belief that they will meet Jesus.
Autopsy results revealed that some of his victims may have also been clobbered to death by criminals that were assigned to supervise the fast.
Kindiki said on Sunday during a church service in Kirinyaga County that the cult leader will never leave jail.
"And that Mackenzie will never leave jail, he will grow old in jail and we pray that God gives him long life so that he sees a safe Kenya that will be free of his foolishness," he said.
