{"id":91296,"date":"2023-05-01T19:43:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-01T19:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/shakahola-deaths-ruto-is-much-a-suspect-as-cult-pastors-raila"},"modified":"2023-05-01T19:51:30","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T19:51:30","slug":"shakahola-deaths-ruto-is-much-a-suspect-as-cult-pastors-raila","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/shakahola-deaths-ruto-is-much-a-suspect-as-cult-pastors-raila","title":{"rendered":"Shakahola deaths: ‘Ruto is much a suspect as cult pastors’ \u2013 Raila"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. <\/strong><\/span>Azimio leader Raila Odinga has dismissed plans by President William Ruto to form a Commission of Inquiry to look into the Shakahola deaths, claiming he is much a suspect as those he wants probed.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Monday, the Azimio leader claimed, without proof, that the preachers linked to the deaths at the Shakahola Forest set up sanctuaries at Ruto\u2019s former official residence in Karen when he was Deputy President.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did not stop there, these so called pastors proceeded to deliver prophecies and promised miracles of how Ruto would perform as a President.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former Prime Minister further claimed that the pastors aided the introduction of mandatory fasting at the DP\u2019s residence in Karen in 2015.<\/p>\n

He said the fasting was carried over to State House where everyone is compelled to fast every Wednesday regardless of their faith, \u201cmaking State House essentially a Shakahola annex.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raila also claimed the pastors were among the people who supposedly sanctified State House when Ruto moved in.<\/p>\n

“These so-called pastors have organised mega rallies attended by prayer warriors, attended by Ruto, Rigathi Gachagua and their spouses supposedly to sanctify the land. They ended up defiling the land,\u201d Raila said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey must tell Kenyans when and how they knew about these cult leaders. How much they contributed to their campaigns and how many times they have accessed State House since the start of the regime,\u201d Raila said in a press statement on Monday.<\/p>\n

Ruto has announced that he will appoint a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to conduct investigations into the Shakahola massacre.<\/p>\n

So far, 109 bodies have been dug out of dozens of shallow graves from the forest while over 400 people believed to have been followers of Good News International Church presiding pastor Paul Mackenzie have been reported missing.<\/p>\n

“This week, I will appoint a Judicial Commission of Inquiry so that we can get to the bottom of what happened in Shakahola with Mackenzie and all his collaborators,” Ruto said on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Mackenzie and Televangelist Ezekiel Odero of New Life Prayer Centre and Church are in custody in relation to the deaths.<\/p>\n

Raila faulted Ruto’s plan to form a judicial commission of inquiry to look into the activities of their ministries saying it goes against the edicts of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

“Commission of inquiries are the choice for governments when they have something to hide, like Ruto does now,\u201d Raila claimed.<\/p>\n

He said the President owes Kenyans an explanation on the events at Shakahola before he purports to try and solve the problem.<\/p>\n

Raila said only Parliament can establish a subordinate court or independent tribunal through an act of Parliament.<\/p>\n

Raila added that only Parliament can also determine the jurisdiction and functions of a court or independent tribunal.<\/p>\n

He said unlike in the past, the President no longer has powers to make decisions on the Constitution of a court or independent tribunal.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet again Ruto, is trying to undermine and overthrow the Constitution. Only Judicial Service Commission can determine who will be employed to serve in such a tribunal,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

Raila said Parliament must swing into action and form a select committee to get to the root of cultic activities in the country and abuse of religion for political gain.<\/p>\n

He added that the House should also establish whether the deaths in Shakahola were acts of rogue pastors, human sacrifices or trade in body organs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe blanket restriction placed on independent observers including the media from visiting the area must be lifted immediately,” he said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Kenya<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. Azimio leader Raila Odinga has dismissed plans by President William Ruto to form a Commission of Inquiry to look into the Shakahola deaths, claiming he is much a suspect as those he wants probed. In a statement on Monday, the Azimio leader claimed, without proof, that the preachers linked to the deaths […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":91295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10],"tags":[6857,7003,544],"class_list":["post-91296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-parties","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-kenya","tag-kenya"],"yoast_head":"\nShakahola deaths: 'Ruto is much a suspect as cult pastors' \u2013 Raila - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Azimio leader Raila Odinga has dismissed plans by President William Ruto to form a Commission of Inquiry to look into th ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/shakahola-deaths-ruto-is-much-a-suspect-as-cult-pastors-raila\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shakahola deaths: 'Ruto is much a suspect as cult pastors' \u2013 Raila\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Azimio leader Raila Odinga has dismissed plans by President William Ruto to form a Commission of Inquiry to look into th ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/shakahola-deaths-ruto-is-much-a-suspect-as-cult-pastors-raila\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-01T19:43:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-01T19:51:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2023\/05\/postQueueImg_1682954323.68.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/shakahola-deaths-ruto-is-much-a-suspect-as-cult-pastors-raila#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/shakahola-deaths-ruto-is-much-a-suspect-as-cult-pastors-raila\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Shakahola deaths: ‘Ruto is much a suspect as cult pastors’ \u2013 Raila\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-01T19:43:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-01T19:51:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/shakahola-deaths-ruto-is-much-a-suspect-as-cult-pastors-raila\"},\"wordCount\":606,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/shakahola-deaths-ruto-is-much-a-suspect-as-cult-pastors-raila#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2023\/05\/postQueueImg_1682954323.68.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Kenya\",\"Kenya\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"parties\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/shakahola-deaths-ruto-is-much-a-suspect-as-cult-pastors-raila#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/shakahola-deaths-ruto-is-much-a-suspect-as-cult-pastors-raila\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/shakahola-deaths-ruto-is-much-a-suspect-as-cult-pastors-raila\",\"name\":\"Shakahola deaths: 'Ruto is much a suspect as cult pastors' \u2013 Raila - 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