Keypoints:
- Police recover 2 bodies, rescue 57 in Migori
- Survivors reject treatment, sing hymns
- Resembles 2023 Shakahola cult disaster
KENYAN authorities are investigating a possible religious cult after two bodies were recovered and 57 people rescued from a church in Migori County, sparking disturbing comparisons to the 2023 Shakahola forest mass deaths, Reuters reports.
The police operation took place on Monday at St Joseph Missions of Africa Church, where officers found one body ‘lying on the floor of a prayer room within the church compound,’ fully dressed in a white robe and wrapped in a grey sheet, according to a police report seen by Reuters.
The 57 individuals rescued from the compound were described as looking weak and malnourished. Although they were taken to a local hospital for treatment, they refused medical help, instead bursting into religious chants and songs, the report noted.
Echoes of the Shakahola cult horror
The disturbing details have revived memories of the 2023 Shakahola tragedy, in which over 400 bodies, nearly half of them children, were uncovered in mass graves linked to a doomsday cult in eastern Kenya. That case made global headlines as one of the deadliest cult-related events in recent history.
The leader of that movement, Paul Mackenzie, is facing charges including murder, manslaughter, torture, and terrorism, after allegedly urging followers to starve themselves and their children to death to reach heaven before the world ended. He has denied the charges. Court proceedings are ongoing.
No official police statement yet
Police have not issued an official statement regarding the Migori incident. A spokesperson declined to comment when approached by Reuters. It is not yet clear whether criminal charges will be brought or whether the case will be officially treated as cult-related.
Mounting concern over unregulated sects
The latest case has reignited debate over unregulated churches and fringe religious sects in Kenya, many of which operate outside official scrutiny. Human rights advocates have repeatedly called for tighter oversight, warning that desperate or vulnerable individuals remain at risk of spiritual exploitation.
As police continue to investigate the circumstances of the deaths and the behaviour of the rescued worshippers, Kenyans are once again confronting the country’s uneasy relationship with extreme religious movements.
