Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie in court in Malindi, Kenya, earlier this month. | Photo: Simon Maina / AFP - Getty Images

Kenya’s embattled cult leader Paul Makenzie used armed gangs to kill some of his followers who took too long to die and those who changed their minds during fasting to death, the country’s Interior Minister said Friday.

Mackenzie, a taxi driver-turned-preacher, is being prosecuted for allegedly telling his followers to starve to death to “meet Jesus.”

Cabinet Secretary for Interior Kithure Kindiki told a Senate ad hoc committee in Nairobi that the armed gangs built structures close to the burial sites where they had a menu of well-balanced diets while they watched over followers starving to death, The EastAfrican reports.

The death toll linked to the “Shakahola forest massacre” has climbed to 133, and hundreds of people are still reported missing.

Authorities continue to search for human remains in shallow graves scattered throughout a forest where Mackenzie’s followers were living.

While starvation appears to be the main cause of death, some of the victims — including children – were strangled, beaten, or suffocated, according to a government pathologist.

Court documents filed earlier this month said that some of the corpses had their organs removed, with police alleging that the suspects were engaged in the forced harvesting of body parts.

Makenzie, the leader of the International Church of Good News has been denied bail since his arrest last month.