Hussein Khalid: 4 more bodies exhumed in Kilifi
The exhumation exercise in Kwa Binzaro has entered its fourth day, with four more bodies being recovered from shallow graves in Kwa Binzaro village, Kilifi County, according to human rights activist Hussein Khalid.
In a statement on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, VOCAL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Khalid stated that the bodies included two adults and two children.
You might also like
“While the two adult bodies were each in a grave, the bodies of the two children were in one grave. This brings the total number of bodies exhumed as of now to 17,” he stated.
This comes a day after authorities exhumed four more bodies from shallow graves during Monday’s August 25, 2025, operation.
Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha, who is leading the operation, confirmed the arrest of 11 individuals in connection with the latest incident, including the woman believed to be at the centre of the suspected cult activities.
“We have arrested the main culprit, the lady who was operating here, and 10 other suspects. Investigations are ongoing, and we want to establish who sold this land to her, because this is part of Chakama Ranch,” he said.
While DNA profiling of the bodies has yet to begin, preliminary investigations suggest that some of the victims were previously rescued during the Shakahola operation. Authorities now believe that after being rescued, some individuals may have returned to the forested area, possibly due to rejection by their families or communities.
“Some of them were not fully accepted by their families or communities. That made them come back to this area—although not to the exact spot as the earlier incident, but further inside,” Onyancha added.
The revelations have once again raised concerns about the reintegration of cult survivors and the effectiveness of follow-up measures by government and rehabilitation agencies.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations’ Homicide Unit has so far mapped out 27 suspected graves at the site. The exhumation and investigation exercise is set to continue on Tuesday as authorities work to unravel the full scale of the alleged cult’s operations.
