Shakahola wasn't the first: A history of deadly cults that have claimed lives across the world

Investigators exhume victims’ remains from shallow graves in Kwa Binzaro Forest. [AFP]

The discovery of hundreds of bodies in Shakahola forest in Kilifi County in 2023 exposed the devastating consequences of religious extremism in Kenya, but the tragedy was far from an isolated incident.

For decades, religious movements built around unquestionable loyalty to charismatic leaders, extreme teachings and apocalyptic prophecies have emerged in different parts of the world, leaving behind deaths, broken families and questions about the limits of religious freedom.

A disturbing case emerged in Maella, Naivasha, where a controversial religious group known as Kanitha wa Ngai, or Church of God, was accused of exposing children to preventable deaths through the refusal of conventional medical treatment.

In December 2023, authorities ordered the closure of the church following reports that four minors had died after their parents allegedly failed to seek medical attention because of their religious beliefs.

Residents also raised concerns over the burial of some children within the church compound. Police and members of the public rescued four ailing children, while suspects were arrested over alleged neglect. The church's leader was reported to have fled the area.

The case demonstrated that the danger posed by extremist religious teachings does not always manifest through mass starvation. In some instances, the rejection of medical treatment, vaccination and other essential services can place entire families, particularly children, at risk.

Across the border in Uganda, the 2000 Kanungu tragedy remains one of Africa's deadliest religious disasters. A breakaway Catholic sect was formed in the late 1980s founded by Joseph Kibweteere and Credonia Mwerinde, that preached strict adherence to the Ten Commandments and warned of an impending apocalypse.

When their prophecy failed to materialize on December 31, 1999, followers began to revolt and demand their money and property back. On March 17, 2000, the leaders boarded up the windows and doors of their church in Kanungu, trapped hundreds of followers inside, and set it on fire.

Subsequent  police investigations uncovered hundreds more bodies poisoned or stabbed in mass graves beneath properties owned by the cult leaders. The death toll was approximated between 700 to 900.

The US also experienced one of the most devastating cult-related tragedies in modern history. In November 1978, more than 900 people died at Jonestown, Guyana, after Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones orchestrated a mass murder-suicide involving his followers.

In 1997, another American movement, Heaven's Gate, made international headlines when 39 members died in a mass suicide. Its followers believed that abandoning their earthly bodies would allow them to join an extraterrestrial spacecraft.

Also in Canada, Switzerland and France, The Order of the Solar Temple was an elite doomsday cult founded in 1984 by Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret that attracted wealthy professionals through a mix of New Age mysticism and Knights Templar lore.

The leaders taught that Earth was facing an imminent ecological collapse, convincing followers that they needed to undergo a "transit" to escape the apocalypse and transport their souls to a planet orbiting the star Sirius.

Driven by growing financial scandals and law enforcement scrutiny, the cult's leadership triggered a series of highly orchestrated mass murders and suicides between 1994 and 1997.

Across Switzerland, Canada, and France, 74 members, including infants and children perished. While some went willingly, forensic evidence proved many were drugged, bound, and shot before their compounds were set on fire.

These incidents reveal a recurring pattern: the concentration of power around charismatic leaders, the isolation of followers, the suppression of independent thinking and the manipulation of religious beliefs.

While the circumstances differ, the consequences expose the vulnerability of people drawn into movements that demand absolute obedience.

For Kenya, the lessons from Shakahola and the earlier Naivasha case extend beyond individual investigations. They raise difficult questions about the registration, monitoring and accountability of religious institutions, particularly where children and vulnerable members are involved.