The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) has indicted security and national administration officials involved in the Shakahola massacre and called for swift accountability, according to its report released on Friday.
The KNHCR accused the officers of "unacceptable gross abdication of duty and negligence," alleging that their actions and inactions contributed to the tragic events of the massacre.
"The Commission regrets that no known sanctions were taken against those officers who abdicated their duty to protect the hundreds of persons, including children who are either missing, dead or deeply traumatized as a result of their acts of gross negligence," the report reads.
The commission also found that government officials in Malindi had ample opportunity to intervene and prevent the deaths, especially after the arrest of self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie in 2017.
In the report, KNCHR cited a former member of the Good News International Church who turned to social media in 2022 to draw attention to the cult's events.
"Instead of investigating the veracity of the issues raised, the lady was intimidated after being accused of making baseless accusations," the commission said, adding that police have contacted social media administrators and reprimanded them for "posting defamatory messages."
The commission concluded its report by calling on the government to hold accountable all security officials whose actions aided and abetted the Shakahola massacre, to continue exhuming bodies, and to assist survivors in obtaining necessary documents.
On Wednesday, local media reported that the Kenyan government will begin next week releasing some of the bodies of those who died in the hunger cult.
Last year, 429 bodies were excavated, and so far, 34 of them have reportedly been identified and brought back to their families.
Paul Mackenzie and his associates are charged with terrorism, murder, assisted suicide, kidnapping, extremism, genocide, crimes against humanity, child abuse, fraud, and money laundering.