Detectives exhume bodies in the Shakahola forest on June 12, 2023.

A new report has shown that fringe religious groups are involved in criminal activities such as exploiting the vulnerabilities of their followers, financial malpractices and promoting false hopes.

A frontier church is a Christian denomination that practices doctrines or worship traditions that are rejected by the majority of Christians.

In the report titled ‘Religion and Crime in Kenya’, it was revealed that religious groups were also killed. abusing children, resorting to murder and killing, torture, isolating individuals from their families, and denying individuals access to healthcare.

Other activities include secrecy in worship, banning members from participating in civic affairs, and risks to public order.

Kenneth Bundi Mbaya and Phyllis Muriuki, authors of the report describing the activities, said a section of churches were exploiting their congregations by offering rigid prayer patterns as an over-emphasized way of solving problems.

“Followers of these extremist religious groups have intense prayer routines reminiscent of the religion of Islam, but they do not have the structured prayer times practiced in Islam,” Mbaya and Muriuki said.

Regarding murder and killing, they gave an example of the Shakahola tragedy, which caused the death of hundreds of people after indoctrination into a death fast with the promise of seeing Jesus.

In another incident in Kilifi District, elderly people were targeted and killed by their family members after the clergy made statements about allegedly practicing witchcraft.

The allegations turned out to be a simple ruse for land inheritance struggles perpetuated by religious leaders.

The report also identified the existence of religious groups that prohibit their members from accessing healthcare.

Members of these fringe religious groups adhere strictly to the belief in divine healing through prayer.

“Hospitals and traditional medical interventions are completely rejected, as evidenced by the obsessive praying for the sick and the active discouraging of its members from seeking medical attention from health facilities,” Mbaya and Muriuki said.

Regarding the exploitation of children’s education, churches oppose the Children’s Law No. 29, which guarantees the right of all children to education.

Research findings revealed that some of these religious groups discourage their members from sending their children to schools, citing scripture as justification.

Religious groups implied that participation in formal educational practices was against God’s will.

These groups advocate secret worship, characterized by undisclosed places of worship and distinct rituals that deviate from traditional Christian or Islamic norms of worship.

While some of these groups gather for worship in the private homes of their adherents, at other times they choose to rent and relocate buildings that are intermittently closed to evade local authorities.

The authors found that there were instances where places of worship became restricted zones, allowing entry only to well-known members, and tight security measures were often enforced.

“These places of worship are at times highly guarded, with militias even deployed to prevent entry and exit to the buildings,” they added.

The sects also ban their members from participating in civic events, including elections and vaccination campaigns.

The report showed that other groups even went beyond spreading radical ideologies.