Another cult busted in Kwale forest, 'prophetess' arrested

Joyce Mukumbi, the ‘prophetess’ at Rainbow Faith Ministries, has been attracting followers from different parts of the country as far as Kisii.

More than 100 people live in a homestead located 4km into Vumbu forest, according to police.

Mukumbi has reportedly been preaching using the Book of Revelation in the Bible to speak warn about the end times.

On Thursday, a multiagency team including officers the National Police Service, Education ministry, children’s office, Kwale county government, public health, among others, raided the place after several warnings to the worshippers to return to their homes.

Police got word about the church after officers from Kwale International Sugar Company called to complain about people who had invaded their land, coupled with complaints from locals that there were people living in the forest.

Twelve people, including the prophetess, were arrested and recorded statements with police but only Mukumbi was detained.

The others were forced to go back to their homes.

Ten of the people caught in the raid were children and were taken to a children’s home in Msambweni.

“These people are like a cult, not a church. They broke away from the SDA church,” Msambweni police boss Francis Gachoki told the Star.

However, Fadhili Ngumbao, a pastor and leader at the church, told the Star they are Seventh Day Adventists and that the allegations against them that they are preaching religious extremism are false.

“We have been harassed by the police so much. They even closed down our church on Thursday,” Ngumbao said.

He said they do not dry-fast (extreme fasting where one is not allowed to even drink water until the fasting period is over), and allow their children to go to school and hospitals when they fall sick.

“They even say we are taught too much about the word that we do not have time to work. All these are false allegations,” Ngumbao said.

He said they work hard and even have grown food crops in their farms.

“We do several projects so we can earn a living,” said Ngumbao, who is also a preacher in the church.

“As we speak, we have been ousted from the church and our homestead,” Ngumbao said.

He said two of the motorbikes they use to transport children to school and the sick to hospital were confiscated by the police.

Ngumbao said they have stayed in the homestead for about 10 years and that their woes started about a month ago when “noise” about their supposed extremist preaching started doing rounds.

“They say we insult other religions. The truth is we do not. We preach about the third angel as written in Revelations 14: 6-12 which teaches man to turn away from sin and serve and praise God,” the preacher said.

The third angel's message is a solemn warning against observance of Sunday as a sacred day, which Adventists have historically interpreted as the mark of the beast.

Ngumbao said the security agents have gone as far as confiscating their religious books.

Maj (Rtd) Humphrey Nguma Macharia, also a leader at the church, said his only mission is to ensure as many people as possible know and turn to God.

He said he was attracted to the Rainbow Faith Church after hearing what “God has done to the people there”

“God spoke of many things before I even joined them. He told the people I am the one who would go to them when I hear about his message,” the retired army major said.

Over 100 members live the forest homestead comprising six mud houses.

Children in the supposed close-knit ‘family’, some as young as six years old, do not go to school because, according to Muhuri rapid response officer Francis Auma, who camped in Msambweni on a fact-finding mission, they “were being discriminated in the normal schools”.

“So they took the children from the conventional schools and have been home-schooling them,” Auma said.

The ‘close-knit family’, according to Gachoki, cooks, eats, plays, and does all other things together.

“We think they have a sponsor,” Gachoki told the Star, adding that they are trying to probe who has been providing them with food and water.

The six houses have been fitted with solar panels, beds which hold about four people each, among other things that make their life in the forest bearable.

They pray four times daily.

“One of the minors there got pregnant, but she says she does not know whose it is,” Gachoki said.

‘Prophetess’ Mukumbi was Friday taken to Port Reitz hospital in Mombasa for mental assessment after police suspected she could be having some mental problem.

“But the psychiatrist was not around and so she will be assessed on Monday,” said Gachoki.

Police said a squatter only identified as Nyamawi started bring the followers to the forest, allocating them pieces of land for a fee of Sh25,000.

“He was selling Kisco land to anyone who cared to buy and willing to join the church,” Gachoki said.

Muhuri director Khelef Khalifa said the security operation and probe of the church members should be done within the confines of the law.

“The police and all other security agents doing this operation must respect the human rights of these people and follow the law,” said Khalifa.

He called on the church members to come out of the bushes where they are hiding and help the police with investigations .

“We are keeping a close eye on this development to ensure that no right is violated and the rule of law is upheld,” Khalifa said.