Kenya cult death toll surges to 32 as police admit failures in response

Kenyan police on Friday admitted there were failures in their response to the Kwa Binzaro cult tragedy, as the official death toll rose to 32 following the inclusion of earlier exhumations that had not been counted.

The revision came a day after investigators uncovered seven additional bodies and 54 body parts in shallow graves and across the forest in Kilifi county, raising fears of another mass death incident reminiscent of the 2023 Shakahola massacre that had a death toll of over 400.

Police spokesperson Michael Muchiri, addressing journalists at a press conference in Nairobi on Friday, acknowledged lapses within the country's security system.

"It is a saddening development. There seems to have been a disconnect between intelligence services, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, and the wider administration," Muchiri told reporters.

Forensic experts earlier confirmed that some of the remains were relatively fresh compared to those previously unearthed, suggesting burials that occurred only weeks or months ago.

Authorities have urged families with missing relatives to register details and provide DNA samples at a Kenya Red Cross desk set up at Malindi District Hospital for possible identification.

The exhumations mirror the horrors of Shakahola Forest, also in Kilifi, where more than 400 followers of Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie's Good News International Church were found in 2023.

Many victims were determined to have died of starvation, suffocation, and violence after being indoctrinated to believe death through fasting would bring them closer to heaven.

Kilifi is 426 kilometers (265 miles) southeast of Nairobi.