Cult Members Found Starved to Death in Forest After Fasting for Jesus

Four people have died and 11 others are in hospital in Kilifi, Kenya, after starving themselves to see Jesus on the alleged orders of their preacher, according to reports. Three of those in hospital are in a critical condition.

Police in Nairobi attempted to rescue the suspected religious cult members from a forest where they were starving themselves on April 13, according to a Capital News report.

Police have said the group had been brainwashed by the leader of the Good News International Church, Makenzie Nthenge, who is also known as Paul Makenzie Nthenge.

According to a report in the publication The Standard, in 2019 Nthenge said he would close down the church following multiple legal issues.

This combined picture shows stock images of a man praying, left, and a cross in a field. Four people have died in Kenya after starving themselves to see Jesus, on the alleged orders of their preacher, according to reports. Getty

Some of the charges he faced included disobeying the law, religious incitement and indoctrination of children. He denied the charges.

Speaking to The Standard, he said: "The message has already been delivered and I am closing the ministry together with the TV station by the end of November."

Regarding the latest incident allegedly involving Nthenge, police said they received reports on Thursday that "there were ignorant citizens who were starving to death in pretext to meet Jesus after being brainwashed by suspect Makenzie Nthenge, a pastor of Good News International Church."

Police have said they will resume the rescue operation in the forest on Friday as they suspect there may be more people in the area.

Authorities also suspect there is a mass grave in the forest where other cult members are buried.

According to publication TUKO, a police report detailed authorities' fears about how many victims' bodies remain in the forest after speaking to a whistle blower.

"On April 13 2023, an intelligence report was submitted to Sub-County Criminal Investigation Officers (SCCIO) Malindi by one Karume Fondo," the report read. "He further alleged that there is a mass shallow grave of victims of that brainwashing totalling to 31 bodies in an unidentified place at Skakahola Forest within Langobaya in Malindi sub country."

On March 23 Nthenge was arrested and accused of killing babies and burying them in shallow graves. He was released on a Kenyan SH1000,000 bond ($742).

According to a separate TUKO report, the pastor was also accused of brainwashing two parents into killing their two children to make them "heroes" in the eyes of God.

He then allegedly buried the two babies in a shallow grave in a place called Shakahola in Kilifi, according to the report.

The parents, who were identified as Isaac Ngala and Emily Kaunga, were also listed as suspects.

Newsweek has contacted the Kenya Police Department via email for comment.