Emotional Kisumu father losses THREE sons to Mackenzie cult as Shakahola deaths hit 73
4 min read
Mackenzie through his cult claims three sons Mr Yimbo, a resident of Kisumu even as authorities camp at Shakahola forest in the rescue mission
Mackenzie through his cult claims three sons Mr Yimbo, a resident of Kisumu even as authorities camp at Shakahola forest in the rescue mission.
Mr. Morris Yimbo, a resident of Kanyakwar, Kisumu, has narrated how he lost his three sons to Kilifi’s Shakahola cult massacre.
According to the Nation report, he claims that during the Covid-19 outbreak, his brother, Wickliffe Omondi alias “Waimoi,” persuaded his boys to join the cult.
His children, Vincent Lihanda (age 21), Godwin Maxwell (17), and Collins Lijodi (age 14) vanished without a trace almost three years ago.
His oldest son, Lihanda, was the first to vanish.
The authorities were unable to locate his children prior to the recent start of the Shakahola saga.
Mr. Yimbo says that his son began exhibiting strange behaviors as soon as he joined a church connected to his brother, Omondi. He immediately started to disobey and resist.
The two would occasionally attend church in Kakamega or Vihiga on Sundays. And on other times, they would participate in kesha or night vigils.
A worried father was forced to have a chat with his son to remedy the situation.
“It now became the norm for the two to come home late at night, on excuses they would go for night vigils without my consent. As a father I was worried because his performance in school was worsening,” said Mr. Yimbo.
In his effort to discipline his son, who was now absconding from classes, the son ran away from home.
For two weeks the boy was missing. His parents reported the matter to the police.
However, the son finally reached out to his mother who later convinced him to come back home.
“He called his mother asking for forgiveness. We persuaded him to come home, which he eventually did,” recalls the father of three.
Even as the son returned home, he was still determined to leave school and pursue preaching the gospel.
His parents were shocked at his new interest in preaching at a young age.
All these events were unfolding during the Covid-19 pandemic when the country was in lockdown.
But as soon as the lockdown was lifted, the son soon disappeared with his uncle, Mr. Omondi.
“We reported the matter to the police but we couldn’t get any information on my son’s whereabouts,” said Mr. Yimbo.
Barely two months after the firstborn went missing, his other two children followed suit.
Mr. Yimbo’s brother had carefully planned the disappearance of the two as well.
On the eve of their disappearance, they had packed their clothes in suitcases ready for their departure to Lamu.
“That evening my wife entered my son’s room, and there was something unusual about it. Their clothes were packed as if they were soon traveling,” he calls.
The following day, in the evening, their mother waited for the two boys to return from school, but they did not show up.
“By that time, I was working in Kisii County. It is likely my brother had made arrangements for them to run away from home,” said the father of three.
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It’s now been years of making frequent visits to police stations trying to find his lost sons.
On occasions, the sons would call their father asking for money using different numbers.
“Sometimes the numbers would be switched off. We came to realize there were 14 different mobile numbers,” he said.
According to Mr. Yimbo, police were able to trace the calling location as Lamu.
“Little did I know that my brother had joined this church in Shakahola and was responsible for the disappearance of my children,” said Mr. Yimbo.
In an unfortunate turn of events, he soon found out his boys were among the victims who died.
During the search for his children, he discovered they were strangled while trying to escape from the camp.
The father of three described the scene as horrific. The children were buried behind the camp where they were staying in shallow graves.
Overwhelmed with the unfolding events, he passed out and was rushed to the hospital.
“Some of the victims who survived who knew my children said they tried to escape on March 15 but were caught and killed,” said Mr. Yimbo.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the Shakahola massacre climbed to 73 on Monday, police sources told AFP as investigators unearthed more corpses from mass graves in the Mackenzie-linked forest.
A major search is still underway with more bodies expected to be exhumed.
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