Get to the bottom of Kilifi cult deaths
By Editorial.Team, April 24, 2023It is shocking, to say the least, that over 24 people can die — and be buried — in one locality because they have been brainwashed into believing that fasting will take them closer to their God.
This raises troubling questions on whether the provincial administration still plays the role it ought to of keeping an eye on goings on at the grassroots, and, if it does, how come these deaths did not become public sooner rather than later.
Religion is a powerful tool because it works on the basis of faith. When people are poor and ill educated, it is much easier to make them act on the basis of faith rather than knowledge.
This is what appears to have happened in Kilifi where the macabre tale of deaths from fasting has left Kenyans in shock that in this day and age, such occurrences can go on for so long under the watchful eye of government agencies.
And whereas the media cannot call for the regulation of churches, it is disconcerting that religious leaders have not come out to speak against the misleading of hapless worshippers who invested too much faith in what is essentially a doomsday cult for all intents and purposes.
What this incident has revealed is that there is need for the registrar of societies to be more vigilant and to carry out due diligence before granting operating permits to every Tom, Dick and Harry who applies for one.
There ought to be some form of “know your customer” process that involves the police and intelligence service to scrutinise the people who run religious organisations, especially where they are the founders and preachers and everything in between.
There ought to be a system, which can best be implemented by county governments, of auditing the religious organisations within their jurisdiction with a view to establishing which ones are genuine and which are cultic.
Once this is done, then they should institute measures to punish and deregister rogue religious institutions.
But, as a general measure, there is need for the government to enforce the compulsory education policy to ensure that anyone who is eligible to go to school actually does.
This is because education can reduce significantly, the chances of one being misled on the basis of what they have been made to believe.