Kwa Binzaro: Malindi dooms day cult where children received first brutal blow

Two hours' drive from the tourist town of Malindi, forensic teams turned off the tarred road into a thicket of thorn bushes, entering the Kwa Binzaro crime scene that first came to light in mid-July.

Dozens of women and children are believed to have died after a doomsday cult ordered them to fast to death as a route to heaven. Like in the Shakahola cult, children were to die first, followed by women.

Detectives say cult members were preparing for the end of the world under the instruction of a powerful leader who convinced them starvation was their ticket to salvation

So far, 32 bodies have been recovered at Kwa Binzaro, most of them women and children.

At the five-acre homestead believed to be the epicentre of the cult, investigators discovered children's toys and personal effects, stark reminders of young lives cut short.

Detectives say children were forced to fast under the sun so they would die faster, with women and men to follow in the suicide plan.

"Children were treated brutally. They were shut in huts for days without food or water. Then they were wrapped in blankets, suffocated, and buried - some while still breathing," said one detective.

The mass graves were discovered deep in the thickets, only a few kilometres from the homestead.

Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor confirmed that infants were buried with their mothers, their bodies positioned in opposite directions.

"In one of the graves, we found the body of an infant buried together with an adult," said Dr Oduor.

At the compound described as a death camp, a baby's potty chair was among the items recovered, evidence that very young children were among the victims. Baby clothes were also unearthed in one of the graves.

In another grave, investigators discovered tiny ribs intertwined with those of an adult. Dr Oduor explained they belonged to a foetus nearly ready to be born.

"The ribs are very thin, and they were found between the legs of a woman. This indicates she was pregnant. A post-mortem and DNA tests will be done to establish if it was indeed a mother and her foetus," said Dr Oduor.

The bodies of women and children were found naked, a chilling indication of the cruelty inflicted on them.

Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha confirmed that investigations were ongoing and further arrests expected.

She urged families and communities to accept back and embrace survivors of the cult who had undergone counselling, warning that rejection could drive them back into extremist groups.

"Many people we see here are those rejected by their families after being rescued in Shakahola. We urge you to embrace them to prevent a repeat," she said.

Onyancha also revealed that arrests had been made in Magarini in connection with the Kwa Binzaro cult.

Eleven people have been identified as key suspects under investigation for organised crime, radicalisation, aiding terrorism and murder.

The suspects are Jairus Otieno Odere, Lilian Akinyi, Kahonzi Katana Karisa, Loice Zawadi, Safari Kenga Nzai, Karisa Gona Fondo, Gona Charo Kalama, Kahindi Kazungu Garama, Thomas Mukonwe, James Kahindi, and Sharleen Temba Anido.

Victor Kaudo, of the Malindi Community Human Rights Centre, has urged the government to declare the Kwa Binzaro deaths a national disaster.

"When children arrived at the five-acre home in Kwa Binzaro, they were happy to have found a new place of belonging, never suspecting the torture that awaited them," said Kaudo.

"We are witnessing pregnant women being exhumed here. This calls for the government to give the matter the utmost seriousness it deserves," he added.

The exhumation of bodies comes as detectives try to trace the money trail amid revelations that funds were used to bankroll radicalisation and transport victims to the forest, where they fasted to death.

Court documents filed in Malindi indicate that suspects in custody channeled money to support the cult's operations. Funds were allegedly used to rent houses in Malindi where followers were temporarily sheltered and indoctrinated before being ferried to Kwa Binzaro to fast to death.

The grisly discoveries at Kwa Binzaro have revived fears of further cult activity in Kenya, two years after Shakahola exposed similar horrors. Authorities insist they are working to shut down networks preying on vulnerable communities, but the latest mass graves suggest the fight is far from over.