Kenyan police announced on Saturday that they had discovered additional bags containing dismembered female body parts at a rubbish dump in the Nairobi slum of Mukuru. This latest gruesome discovery follows the finding of mutilated corpses of at least six women on Friday, which has horrified and angered the nation.
Grim Findings Continue
Detectives have been thoroughly searching the site since Friday when they first found the bodies. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) reported on Saturday that another five bags had been retrieved from the abandoned quarry. Three of these bags contained female body parts, including severed legs and two torsos.
“We want to assure the public that our investigations will be thorough and shall cover a wide range of areas, including but not limited to the possible activities of cultists and serial killings,” the DCI said in a statement.
A Country in Shock
This discovery comes in the wake of a shocking event last year, where mass graves containing the bodies of hundreds of followers of a doomsday sect were found in a forest near the Indian Ocean coast. This incident was one of the world’s worst cult-related massacres.
Kenya’s law enforcement services are under intense scrutiny after dozens of people were killed during anti-government demonstrations last month. Rights groups have accused officers of using excessive force and abducting protesters.
Tensions at the Mukuru Site
On Friday, police reported finding the bodies of at least six women in Mukuru, while the state-funded police watchdog said nine bodies had been found, seven of them women. Tensions have been high at the Mukuru site, with local media reporting that police fired into the air to disperse an angry crowd. The DCI stated that a team of detectives and forensic experts was “impeded by agitated members of the public from accessing the scene.”
The Independent Police Oversight Authority (Ipoa) is investigating whether there was any police involvement in the grisly findings. “The bodies, wrapped in bags and secured by nylon ropes, had visible marks of torture and mutilation,” it said, noting that the dumpsite was less than 100 meters from a police station.
Public Outcry and Government Response
Kenyan President William Ruto addressed the nation on Saturday, saying there was “no justification” for any Kenyan to lose their life. “We are a democratic country guided by the rule of law. Those involved in mysterious killings in Nairobi and any other part of the country will be held to account,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Kenya’s police force has a history of being accused of extrajudicial killings and other rights abuses, but convictions are rare. A coalition of civil society and rights groups said the Mukuru discoveries came amid a “troubling surge” in cases of mysterious disappearances and abductions, particularly after the anti-tax protests. “It represents a grave violation of human rights and raises serious concerns about the rule of law and security in our country,” the coalition stated.
Political Turmoil and Judicial Proceedings
National police chief Japhet Koome resigned on Friday following public anger over the protest deaths. President Ruto is facing the worst crisis of his rule due to deeply unpopular plans for tax hikes, which he has now scrapped. Crowds at the dumpsite on Friday chanted “Ruto must go,” the slogan of Gen-Z Kenyans leading the demonstrations that have now morphed into a wider campaign against the president, corruption, and alleged police brutality.
In related news, on Monday, doomsday cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie went on trial along with 94 co-defendants over the deaths of more than 400 followers he is accused of inciting to starve themselves to death to meet Jesus. He and his co-accused face charges of murder, manslaughter, and child cruelty in separate cases over what has been dubbed the “Shakahola forest massacre.”
As investigations continue, the Kenyan public awaits answers and accountability for these heinous crimes. The country remains in a state of tension, grappling with the implications of these discoveries on its societal and political landscape.