A Kenyan pastor who instructed his followers to engage in a fast that killed 109 people was arrested again on Tuesday, just a few hours after being released. The arrest of Pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, the head of the Good News International Church, followed his arraignment before a court in Malindi, where the judge declared that the court lacked jurisdiction to decide on a bail application.

Mackenzie, along with his church, had been investigated following reports from NGOs and locals of people engaging in a deadly fast in the Shakahola forest, where the church was located. The government launched rescue efforts, which resulted in the discovery of mass graves containing the corpses of cult members, including graves for children.

According to Chief Government Pathologist Dr. Johansen Oduor who conducted the autopsies:

Eight of them were male and 22 were female. We did autopsies for 15 adults and 9 children. There were six persons who we weren’t able to determine for certain whether they were adults or not because of the level of decomposition. Of the four bodies that showed signs of murder; one of them, a child, was hit on the head with a blunt object, another one was strangled, and two adults died of asphyxia. We could clearly see rope marks on the neck of one of them. We have also recorded some broken bones in the neck. We are sure that this person, a child, was strangled to death.

Pastor Paul Mackenzie had instructed his “flock” to fast in order to “meet Jesus.” Some of his rescued supporters refused medical attention. Meanwhile, people all over the country are still looking for missing family members and friends who may have joined the cult.

The pastor has run into trouble with the law numerous times. He was charged with basic education provision in an unregistered institution in 2017, radicalization and failure to send his children to school later that year, and incitement to disobey the law and possession and distribution of unapproved films in 2019. In 2017 and 2019, his church was also involved in child protection and criminal cases.

The pastor is set to appear at Shanzu Court to face radicalization charges under the Terrorism Act.