Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has stated that the government will assist poor families of the Shakahola cult victims to foot burial costs.

Addressing the media in Kilifi on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, the CS revealed that plans are underway to identify needy families who may need help from the state in laying to rest their loved ones.

The government had commenced the task of releasing the bodies to their families for burial. The CS noted that the crime scene teams had been instructed to conduct a thorough final inspection of the Forest to ensure that the exhumation efforts were concluded with due diligence and professionalism.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Kithure Kindiki (3rd right) during a past visit to the Shakahola Forest crime scene. |Photo| Courtesy|

CS Kindiki further stated that the government would move to acquire the extensive 4000-acre Chakama Ranch where the Shakahola tragedy happened.

"The government will acquire parts of the Chakam Ranch where the main suspect carried out his atrocious crimes on the people of Kenya and build a memorial to remind us of what happened in perpetuity," he said.

The memorial site will also be a burial place for unclaimed bodies.

Parts of the extensive ranch that contained most of the shallow graves remain designated as a crime scene and according to the Interior Minister, plans are underway to secure the area by fencing it.

CS Kindiki assured members of the public that pending a few legal hiccups, a committee of inquiry established by President William Ruto will move to hold public officials and all other persons accountable for the atrocities that befell Kenyan people in Shakahola. 

The move by the government comes as a sigh of relief to many families that had decried their inability to give their deceased folk a befitting send-off.