• Latest
Bashir’s Cronies Escape Jail, Adding to Sudan War Drama

Kenya Cult Toll Climbs to 98 as Families Await News of Missing

2 years ago
Automated Electronic Penalty System Goes Live Across Uganda

Automated Electronic Penalty System Goes Live Across Uganda

2 hours ago
Brig Gen Keita Assumes Command of Joint Staff Training and Doctrine

Brig Gen Keita Assumes Command of Joint Staff Training and Doctrine

3 hours ago
National IDs Vital to Curb Voter Fraud – Museveni

National IDs Vital to Curb Voter Fraud – Museveni

3 hours ago
Museveni Touts Calm Security, Regional Cooperation in State of Nation Address

Museveni Touts Calm Security, Regional Cooperation in State of Nation Address

1 day ago
Uganda, Kenya Forge Stronger Cross-Border Ties

Uganda, Kenya Forge Stronger Cross-Border Ties

1 day ago
Venezuelan Envoy Seeks Stronger BRICS Ties with Uganda

Venezuelan Envoy Seeks Stronger BRICS Ties with Uganda

1 day ago
SoftPower News
Saturday, June 7, 2025
  • News
  • Tourism & Travel
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
  • Regional
    • Kenya
    • Rwanda
    • Tanzania
    • Burundi
    • South Sudan
    • DR Congo
  • Defence & Security
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Africa
    • Columnists
    • Education
    • Health
      • COVID-19
    • International News
    • News in Pictures
    • OpEd
    • Pearl Of Africa
    • People
    • Politics
    • Special Reports
    • Women
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Tourism & Travel
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
  • Regional
    • Kenya
    • Rwanda
    • Tanzania
    • Burundi
    • South Sudan
    • DR Congo
  • Defence & Security
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Africa
    • Columnists
    • Education
    • Health
      • COVID-19
    • International News
    • News in Pictures
    • OpEd
    • Pearl Of Africa
    • People
    • Politics
    • Special Reports
    • Women
No Result
View All Result
SoftPower News
No Result
View All Result
Home Regional Kenya

Kenya Cult Toll Climbs to 98 as Families Await News of Missing

by Our Reporter
April 27, 2023
Bashir’s Cronies Escape Jail, Adding to Sudan War Drama

Some of the 17 bodies that were exhumed from the Shakahola mass graves on April 25, 2023.

14
VIEWS

The number of victims linked to a suspected starvation cult in Kenya climbed to 98 on Wednesday as weeping relatives anxiously awaited news of loved ones after investigators unearthed mass graves last week.

Related Stories

Automated Electronic Penalty System Goes Live Across Uganda

Brig Gen Keita Assumes Command of Joint Staff Training and Doctrine

National IDs Vital to Curb Voter Fraud – Museveni

The discovery of dozens of bodies buried in Shakahola forest near the coastal town of Malindi shocked Kenyans, with cult leader Paul Mackenzie Nthenge accused of driving his followers to death by preaching that starvation was the only path to God.

The gruesome saga, which has been dubbed the “Shakahola Forest Massacre”, has prompted calls for a crackdown on fringe religious outfits in the largely Christian country.

“We had a lot of challenges today with the rain but in the end we had eight bodies taken out,” a police source told AFP, bringing the total to 98. “We will continue the exercise” Thursday, they added.

At the state-run Malindi Sub-County Hospital, where the morgue is already stretched well beyond capacity with dozens of bodies, families were desperate to know if their loved ones had been found.

Teenager Issa Ali was taken to Shakahola in 2020 by his mother and told AFP he had been beaten by Nthenge when he tried to leave until his father rescued him.

“The last time I saw my mum was in February,” the soft-spoken 16-year-old said.

“She was so weak the last time I saw her.”

Onyancha said Wednesday that 39 people had been found alive so far in the 325-hectare (800-acre) bush around Shakahola, while 22 people have been arrested.

Hassan Musa, a Kenya Red Cross official, told AFP that 311 people, including 150 minors, had been reported missing to its support staff in Malindi.

“We are talking about people mostly from Kenya, but also from Tanzania and Nigeria. Some have been missing for years.”

 More bodies feared 

“We don’t know how many more graves, how many more bodies, we are likely to discover,” Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki told reporters during a visit to the site on Tuesday, adding the crimes were serious enough to warrant terrorism charges against Nthenge.

According to three sources close to the investigation, most of the dead were dead were children, highlighting the macabre nature of the cult’s alleged practices, which included urging parents to starve their offspring.

Hussein Khalid, executive director of the rights group Haki Africa, which tipped off the police about Nthenge’s activities, told AFP the pastor’s Good News International Church appeared to require children to starve first, followed by women, and finally men.

He said 50 to 60 percent of the victims were children, whose bodies were found wrapped in cotton shrouds inside shallow pits.

Kenya’s President William Ruto has vowed to take action against rogue pastors like Nthenge “who want to use religion to advance weird, unacceptable ideology”.

As the investigation unfolds, questions have emerged about how the cult was able to operate undetected despite Nthenge attracting police attention six years ago.

The televangelist had been arrested in 2017 on charges of “radicalisation” after urging families not to send their children to school, saying the Bible did not recognise education.

Nthenge was arrested again last month, according to local media, after two children starved to death in the custody of their parents.

He was released on bail of 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($700) before surrendering to police following the Shakahola raid.

Nthenge is due to appear in court on May 2.

By AFP

Tags: cult massacredeath tollKenyaMalindiSoftPowerSoftPower NewsTop Uganda News

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Recent Stories

Automated Electronic Penalty System Goes Live Across Uganda

Brig Gen Keita Assumes Command of Joint Staff Training and Doctrine

National IDs Vital to Curb Voter Fraud – Museveni

Museveni Touts Calm Security, Regional Cooperation in State of Nation Address

Uganda, Kenya Forge Stronger Cross-Border Ties

Venezuelan Envoy Seeks Stronger BRICS Ties with Uganda

Visit UBOS Website
SoftPower News Logo

SoftPower News is a subsidiary of SoftPower Communications LLC, a Ugandan digital media group. Keep posted of the latest from Uganda and East Africa.
Plot 4B Malcolm X, Kololo
P.O Box 1497, Kampala - Uganda
Tel: +256-392-001-701
Email: info@softpower.ug

This news site is licenced by Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Tourism & Travel
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
  • Regional
  • Defence & Security
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • More

© SoftPower News

error: Content is protected
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Tourism & Travel
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
  • Regional
    • Kenya
    • Rwanda
    • Tanzania
    • Burundi
    • South Sudan
    • DR Congo
  • Defence & Security
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Africa
    • Columnists
    • Education
    • Health
      • COVID-19
    • International News
    • News in Pictures
    • OpEd
    • Pearl Of Africa
    • People
    • Politics
    • Special Reports
    • Women

© SoftPower News