Kwa Binzaro cult probe shifts to suspects’ phones and bank records
Detectives allege the suspects channelled funds into renting multiple houses in Malindi, which they used as holding spaces for victims before moving them to Kwa Binzaro for fatal fasting sessions.
Investigators pursuing the Kwa Binzaro deaths have turned their focus to the suspects’ digital and financial footprints after obtaining court orders to access their mobile phones and bank records.
The orders, detectives believe, will help expose the network that funded and coordinated the fasting rituals that left multiple people dead.
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Devices recovered during the arrests, including phones, SIM cards and storage drives, have already been dispatched to the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) forensic lab for analysis.
“The investigation team sought court orders enabling the experts and the investigation team to have access to and obtain information contained in the mobile phones and other storage devices that were recovered as exhibits. The mobile phones paired with their respective SIM cards and other storage devices were forwarded to the ATPU forensic Lab for analysis,” read a court document filed at Malindi Law Court.
Yet, despite court directives, telecommunications giants Safaricom and Airtel have yet to release crucial call data and SIM registration details.
“The investigation team sought the court orders requesting access by the investigators to obtain information about SIM card registrations and call data records. All are domiciled at Safricom (k) Plc and Airtel networks (k) limited in respect to the mobile phone numbers that are believed to have facilitated the commission of the aforementioned offences through communication, and that the telecommunication providers are yet to comply,” the document further stated.
The paper trail of money is also emerging as a key link.
Detectives allege the suspects channelled funds into renting multiple houses in Malindi, which they used as holding spaces for victims before moving them to Kwa Binzaro for fatal fasting sessions.
“Investigation has established that the respondents used funds to advance their heinous plans, therefore a need to have access to their accounts to ascertain the money trail. We therefore obtained a court order enabling the fact finders to have access to the said books of account,” the lead investigator revealed.
The suspects, among them Kahindi Kazungu Garama, Thomas Mukonwe, James Kahindi Kazungu and Sharleen Temba Anido, are said to have not only enforced fasting on victims but also preached Paul Mackenzie’s apocalyptic doctrines across the country.
“Preliminary investigations have so far established that Kahindi Kazungu, Thomas Mukonwe, James Kahindi, and Sharleen Temba were travelling all over the country, reaching out to the followers of Good News International Ministries (GNIM) and Paul Mackenzie, preaching to them on the need to fast until they die in furtherance of Paul Mackenzie's doctrinal teachings of end times.”
According to court filings, they urged followers to “fast until death” in anticipation of the end times.
Shocking revelations have already placed them at the heart of the scheme.
“The investigation has also established that the Kahindi Kazungu Garama and Sharleen Temba Anido had rented several other houses within Malindi, where they would host the victims before being transported to Binzaro for fasting until death. These houses need to be traced, documented, and the statement of the proprietors recorded, an exercise that requires more time,” notes the detective through the court filings.
Several families have reported missing relatives, some traced to Binzaro.
Detectives told the court that shallow graves had been identified near a homestead where victims were locked in houses and denied any chance of escape.
“So far, several shallow graves have been identified at the Kwa Binzaro area where the Kahindi Kazungu, Thomas Mukonwe, James Kahindi and Sharleen Temba had set up a homestead and enforced the fasting by locking the victims in the houses and preventing them from escaping,” the court document read.
The investigative team warned against releasing the suspects on bail, citing both risk of self-harm and interference with ongoing probes. “If released before the conclusion of investigations, there is a high possibility that they may revert to fasting until death or interfere with witnesses and accomplices still at large.”
With some witnesses traumatised and unable to face suspects in identification parades, investigators have requested a 30-day extension to trace missing children linked to the suspects, pursue financial trails, and pin down fugitives believed to have escaped during earlier raids.
On Monday, Coast Regional Commissioner Rhida Onyancha confirmed a woman who is already in custody to be the main culprit behind the Kwa Binzaro cult deaths.
Also, four more bodies had been recovered, bringing the total number of bodies exhumed to 13. Eighteen body parts have also been discovered
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