Cult
In today’s world, I get the attraction of a cult. A group that you can belong to that has an alternative set of beliefs, often reminiscent of an older, simpler time. Opting out? PICTURE: FrankHH/Shutterstock If you join a cult, you’re now part of an exclusive community that has a truth that allows you to […]
Zimbabwe police rescue 251 children used as labour and find graves in religious sect compound raid
Harare, Zimbabwe AP Zimbabwe police on Wednesday said they have arrested a man claiming to be a prophet of an apostolic sect at a shrine where believers stay in a compound and authorities found 16 unregistered graves, including those of infants, and more than 250 children used as cheap labour. In a statement, police spokesman […]
The suspects in a Kenyan doomsday cult are ordered to be hospitalised after a hunger strike
Nairobi, Kenya AP A Kenyan magistrate Tuesday ordered the main suspect in a doomsday starvation cult and 94 of his followers to receive emergency care after some of the suspects had to be carried into the courtroom to answer manslaughter charges, too frail and weak to “even open their eyes” after an apparent hunger strike […]
Kenyan court rules pastor accused of starving his congregation is mentally fit for trial
Nairobi, Kenya Religion News Service Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, the self–proclaimed Kenyan pastor who is accused of orchestrating the deaths of more than 400 members of his congregation by starvation, was ruled mentally fit to stand trial by the High Court at Malindi on Tuesday. The taxi driver-turned-charismatic preacher faces multiple charges, including murder and terrorism, […]
Kenya cult leader charged with terrorism-related crimes in starvation deaths
Mombasa, Kenya Reuters Kenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 94 others were charged on Thursday with terrorism-related crimes related to the deaths of 429 of his followers whose bodies have been exhumed from the Shakahola forest. The charges, announced during an appearance before a court in the south-eastern city of Mombasa, are the first to […]
Kenya doomsday cult deaths top 400 as detectives exhume 12 more bodies, with the pastor in custody
Nairobi, KenyaAP The number of people who died in connection with Kenya’s doomsday cult has crossed the 400 mark as detectives exhumed 12 more bodies on Monday believed to be followers of a pastor who ordered them to fast to death in order to meet Jesus. Pastor Paul Mackenzie, who is linked to the cult […]
Kenyan authorities should have prevented cult deaths, President says
Nairobi, KenyaReuters Kenyan Government agencies should have been able to prevent the deaths by starvation of more than 200 members of a cult in the country’s coastal region, said President William Ruto, adding he took responsibility for the disaster. Authorities accuse Paul Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, of ordering his followers to […]
Kenya sets up inquiry into cult deaths, leader to remain in prison
Nairobi, Kenya Reuters Kenyan President William Ruto on Friday appointed a commission of inquiry into the deaths of more than 100 people believed to have starved themselves to death, while a court ordered that their alleged cult leader remain in prison. Kenyan authorities say the dead were members of the Good News International Church led by […]
Kenya court frees pastor accused of links to cult leader
Mombasa, Kenya Reuters A Kenyan court on Thursday released on bond a televangelist detained last week as part of an investigation into the deaths of dozens of people whom police say starved themselves to death on the instructions of a cult leader. Kenya’s interior minister accused Pastor Ezekiel Odero after his arrest last Thursday of […]
Christian leaders call for more regulation as extent of Kenya’s Shakahola massacre continues to become clear; pastors face court
Nairobi, Kenya As a religious cult massacre in the village of Shakahola in south-eastern Kenya continues to send shivers down the spines of Kenyans, religious leaders are calling for tighter regulation of churches to avert activities by rogue pastors that may harm innocent people. At the heart of what has been dubbed the “Shakahola Forest […]