Detectives trace Kwa Bi Nzaro deaths to Shakahola cult

Detectives are uncovering chilling details of how remnants of the Shakahola cult quietly re-emerged at Kwa Bi Nzaro in Kilifi County, reviving fatal fasting rituals and secret burials that have once again shaken the nation.

The discovery of shallow graves and scattered human remains in Chakama Ranch has exposed a direct link between the new deaths and the 2023 Shakahola massacre.

So far, a homicide team led by director Martin Nyuguto, alongside government pathologists Johansen Oduor and Richard Njoroge, has exhumed 34 bodies from shallow graves and collected over 100 body parts from the forest.

The operation was briefly halted after a week of exhumations but resumed when more bodies were found, pushing the toll beyond the earlier count of 32.

Detectives suspect that over 50 people may have died at Kwa Bi Nzaro, many of them influenced by apocalyptic sermons still circulating despite Paul Mackenzie’s detention.

Eleven suspects are currently in custody, with police linking most of them directly to the Shakahola tragedy.

Investigators believe the group regrouped after the crackdown on Shakahola, shifted deeper into the forest to avoid detection, and resumed indoctrinating followers.

Security agencies are now focusing on seven key suspects thought to have spread the radical teachings from Shakahola into Kwa Bi Nzaro.

Police records indicate that four of them travelled around the country recruiting believers, taking them through sessions in Malindi before leading them into the forest.

Investigators are also pursuing a prime suspect believed to be closely related to a man already facing trial over the Shakahola deaths. The two are said to have kept in contact even after the arrests.

While the suspect’s relative was arrested and charged alongside Mackenzie, investigators believe communication between the two may have continued during detention.

Appearing before the Tononoka Children’s Court, Shimo la Tewa Maximum Prison boss Abdi Willy Adan explained that prisoners retain the right to contact relatives and lawyers.

“Different categories of prisoners have designated days to contact relatives and lawyers. Mackenzie’s group missed their scheduled day only because they were in court, not because they were denied access,” Adan told the court.

However, detectives say these communications may have been exploited for radicalisation. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen disclosed that Mackenzie has remained in touch with some of his followers while in prison.

He cited one case where a suspect linked to the Kwa Bi Nzaro deaths was prayed for over the phone by Mackenzie before his arrest.

“We want to understand the circumstances under which this man, who we rescued in 2023 from the forest, returned to Kwa Bi Nzaro,” Murkomen said.

Some families of those arrested are still coming to terms with the developments. One woman recounted her shock after learning her husband, who she thought had died in Shakahola, was arrested at Kwa Bi Nzaro.

“I thought he died in Shakahola. I was surprised to receive a call from the police that he was alive and had been arrested at Kwa Bi Nzaro,” she said. She revealed that she had been in Shakahola with her husband and their children but chose to leave after watching her children starve.

Kwa Bi Nzaro, about 30 kilometres from Shakahola Forest, sits in an isolated part of Chakama Ranch, largely inhabited by wild animals. Investigators believe the group exploited this seclusion to continue their activities after authorities focused on securing Shakahola.

“Preliminary investigation paints a picture of the suspects’ connections to the previous Shakahola massacre and other outcomes that led to mass deaths. Detectives therefore believe that the respondents had regrouped in order to further the radical beliefs,” police noted in court documents.

Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja toured the site on Wednesday as the multi-agency investigation pressed on to unearth the full extent of the cult’s revival.