Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has revealed the National Government will cover transport expenses for families unable to afford to transport the bodies of Shakahola cult victims to their homes after their release from the Malindi sub-county mortuary.

The mortuary has held 429 bodies for almost a year since their exhumation from the vast Shakahola forest, where victims of Pastor Paul Mackenzie’s starvation cult were buried after fasting to ascend to heaven.

The government has commenced releasing the victims’ bodies to their families for burial, with seven bodies out of the 35 conclusively identified released to their families on Tuesday.

Once legal barriers are resolved, a Commission of Inquiry, established by the President, will initiate proceedings to hold public officials accountable for any actions or inactions that may have contributed to the atrocities.

A 4,000-acre section of Chakama Ranch, where numerous shallow graves were found, remains designated as a crime scene.