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Africa Live: Children rescued as Zimbabwe police unearth cult graves - BBC News Africa Live: Children rescued as Zimbabwe police unearth cult graves - BBC News
(about 1 hour later)
Police in Zimbabwe say they have arrested the suspected leader of a religious cult in a village in northern Mashonaland West province and rescued dozens of women and children.
Ishmael Chokurongerwa, 56, who leads the Gore Jena Penyeranyika sect was arrested alongside seven other senior members of the cult on Tuesday, police spokesperson Paul Nyathi said in a statement. Kenya's President William Ruto has said that a planned deployment of police officers to Haiti will go ahead as soon as the Caribbean country puts in place a transitional presidential council.
Police said most of the 251 children found in Mr Chokurongerwa's farm in Nyabira, about 34km (21 miles) north-west of the capital, Harare, had no birth certificates and were not allowed to attend school. Authorities in Kenya earlier this week said the planned deployment was on hold following the announcement that Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry would be stepping down.
Police also discovered a gravesite at the farm where 16 people have been secretly interred, including seven infants whose burials were not registered with authorities. Mr Ruto and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday discussed "the expeditious deployment" of the officers, "including immediate next steps to facilitate deployment", US Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday.
The rescued children "were being used to perform various physical activities for the benefit of the sect’s leadership", the police statement said. "I assured Blinken that Kenya will take leadership of the UN Security Support Mission in Haiti to restore peace and security in Haiti as soon as the presidential council is in place under an agreed process," Mr Ruto said on social media on Wednesday.
“Police also established that all children were subjected to abuse such as cheap labour, doing manual work in the name of being taught life skills," it added. He added that Mr Blinken had informed him that the council "will be formed shortly".
Mr Chokurongerwa, who calls himself "Prophet Ishmael", told local reporters that he was “not aware of women’s and children’s rights”. However, Haitian media report that the creation of the council could take time as it is facing opposition from some political parties.
One of the cult members told reporters that formal education in schools was not wanted by God "because what children are taught there is against the teachings of God". The council will be tasked with appointing an interim prime minister and council of ministers to lead Haiti until the country holds elections.
The new administration would also work with the Kenyan-led international police force to combat gang violence.
More on Haiti:
Haiti violence: 'We're living with death on a daily basis'
Can Kenyan police officers defeat the gangs?
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