In the quiet village of Kaoeni, on the edge of Malindi town in Kilifi County, life seemed ordinary as residents went about their routines, children played along dusty paths and the sputtering roars of boda boda engines cut through the stillness.
Yet behind the walls of rented houses, detectives say a sinister mission was unfolding. At the centre of it all was a 30-year-old woman, Sharlyne Anindo Temba, suspected to be the “chief priestess” of the Kwa Bi Nzaro cult. Inside two houses at Kaoeni, followers of the cult drawn from different parts of the country were indoctrinated before being led down a path of starvation and death.
Inspector-General of police Douglas Kanja and DCI Director Mohammed Amin are shown around Kwa Binzaro village within Chakama ranch in Kilifi County.
Photo credit: Kevin Mutai | Nation
The village is located next to Furunzi, the home of preacher Paul Mackenzie of Good News International Ministries, a prime suspect in the over 400 Shakahola cult deaths unearthed in 2023.
Last week, detectives visited Furunzi and established that Ms Temba lived in secrecy, only hosting families that would later be transported to Kwa Bi Nzaro in the vast Chakama ranch in Kilifi.
Sources involved in the investigations said the suspect hails from Emuhaya in Vihiga County. She had rented one house but later took up a second one due to the increasing number of followers. Her mission was to “lead people to God”.
Morticians carry the remains of a person exhumed at Kwa Bi Nzaro village within the vast Chakama Ranch in Kilifi County on August 28, 2025 as part of investigations into a suspected cult.
Photo credit: Brian Charo | Nation Media Group
At her homestead in Kwa Bi Nzaro, there was a mud-walled, iron-roofed house that had been partitioned into three rooms. These included a preparation room and two prayer rooms. The last one was the most sacred, where believers fasted to death while lying on black PVC sheets.
They would then be wrapped in the sheets and disposed of. Preparations for death began with reducing meals to a stage where one could survive only on water for some time, followed by complete starvation.
A detective who requested anonymity for lack of authority to comment on the matter disclosed that Ms Temba visited Furunzi only to receive and process visitors.
“These two houses were a stopover, where newcomers received a briefing before being ferried to Kwa Bi Nzaro by a boda boda rider,” the detective said.
In her house, detectives say they found several documents considered vital to the ongoing investigations, including a purchase receipt for a motorcycle and a land sale agreement showing she bought five acres for Sh20,000, of which she paid Sh10,000. This is expected to link her to the ownership of the homestead in Kwa Bi Nzaro.
They also found a national identification card belonging to Ms Lilian Akinyi, wife of Mr Jairus Otieno. The couple from Siaya County, whose six children’s whereabouts remain unknown, is among the 11 suspects in police custody.
Police say that preliminary investigations have shown Jairus went to Kwa Bi Nzaro in July this year. He was secluded after he refused to participate in anything, including burying bodies. After the death of their sixth child, his wife started questioning the beliefs. This led him to secretly borrow a mobile phone from a nearby village which he used to call for help, unearthing the cult.
According to a detective, the neighbours in Malindi did not suspect anything unusual because Ms Temba’s activities were carefully concealed, and the visitors appeared like ordinary families.
Morticians carry the remains of a person exhumed at Kwa Binzaro village within the vast Chakama Ranch in Kilifi County on August 28, 2025 as part of investigations into a suspected cult.
Photo credit: Brian Charo| Nation Media Group
“She used to bring in a few people who came as a family, in some cases a husband, wife and their children, and this is something normal with friendship or family,” said the detective.
This was not a case where people would gather and start praying and screaming, drawing attention. They stayed there as normal family members visiting their kin.
“Sharlyne’s neighbours did not hear that much, she was not social,” said an officer involved in the investigations.
Detectives suspect that a man who frequented Ms Temba’s house is among those who worked with Mackenzie. They are also investigating claims that she frequently visited Mackenzie and other Shakahola suspects held at the Shimo La Tewa Prison in Mombasa County.
In an earlier interview, Mr Kahindi Beja, a Kwa Bi Nzaro resident, narrated how Ms Temba, in March this year, arrived on a boda boda and directly approached a local homestead, informing its owner that she was searching for land. The homestead was along the road leading to the interior of Kwa Bi Nzaro, towards Shakahola. During her search, she met Mr Karisa Gona, who offered to sell her land.
“The homestead appeared like any other normal fenced homestead, and she fooled us into believing that nothing evil was happening inside,” Mr Beja said.
Ms Sara Thoya, the wife of Mr Gona, who sold the land to Ms Temba, described her as calm and composed. She said Ms Temba once visited her husband to demand that she be shown her land boundaries.
“She was composed while walking, wearing a decent dress, calm and looked like an innocent church lady with command. You could not tell she was a bad person,” Ms Thoya said. She added that she offered her food, but Ms Temba refused, saying she was fasting.
After the Kwa Bi Nzaro community raided Ms Temba’s homestead, it is believed that some people escaped.
Last week, Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja directed that the entire Chakama ranch be placed under investigation.
