Authorities in Kilifi County are investigating a suspected cult fasting incident in Chakama Forest after four adults were rescued and three deaths confirmed on a remote five‑acre parcel a few kilometres from Shakahola Forest, scene of Kenya’s deadliest cult tragedy in 2023. The search was triggered by reports of suspicious religious activity on the land, prompting police to comb the thickly vegetated property.
Three women and one man were found alive, all weak and malnourished, though the man was in comparatively better condition. Officers also recovered a recently deceased body believed to have died about two days earlier. Two further sets of human remains in advanced decomposition were located nearby, bringing the number of confirmed dead to three.
Preliminary checks show that two survivors are a married couple listed as missing at Siaya Police Station on 15 April 2025. Relatives reported the pair had left home in March with their six children to pursue religious instruction. None of the children were found, raising urgent fears they may still be in the forest or may already have perished.
The property has been sealed off as a crime scene while detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations plan an extensive grid search to map burial sites, collect evidence and interview survivors. “We want our DCI to go tomorrow and do an extensive investigation so they can check the whole compound,” Kilifi County Commissioner Joseph Biwott said. Post‑mortems will seek to determine whether starvation, poisoning or other trauma caused the deaths.
The discovery has revived memories of the Shakahola Massacre, where followers of a self‑styled preacher were urged to fast to death and more than four hundred bodies were exhumed from mass graves. Though smaller in scale, officials worry the Chakama case could signal a resurgence or mutation of lethal starvation doctrines circulating through informal religious networks along the Coast.
Security has been tightened across the Chakama–Shakahola belt, and authorities are urging communities to report missing relatives promptly and flag secluded prayer camps or fasting retreats. Further updates are expected once forensic teams conclude their sweep and identification work. Medical teams are stabilizing the survivors and arranging psychosocial care as statements are taken. Investigators are also checking possible links to roaming preachers who hire rural plots for fasting camps and have urged landowners to alert chiefs to unfamiliar gatherings. Hotline contacts will follow once a field command post opens soon thereafter.
