The Akorino: A Kenyan Cult Story
By Esther Waceke
Kinangop is a quiet village in the central part of Kenya bordering the Aberdare Ranges known for its cold, dry winds. The people here are farmers, poverty is the norm, and the isolation of the place makes it an environment where everyone is looking for something to do and somewhere to belong.
The village provides fertile terrain for a community to thrive on and is notoriously known to have 90 percent of residents being members of the religious group Akorino, which began in Kinangop in the 1930’s. The Akorino was officially established after a group of Kikuyu prophets successfully climbed down Mount Kenya after which they were supposedly instructed through the voice of God to remove all connections with the western culture including all clothing and shoes. The prophets claimed they were also instructed to cover their hair to be accepted by a spirit that was a higher power greater than God. The rules are that any Akorino family member is supposed to cover their hair with a different color type of turban depending on that day's spiritual nature and that day's spiritual assignment.
This group of Africans whose beliefs and practices are based on the principles of non-violence is against the mainstream and they isolate themselves from more orthodox churches and national politics. They are small in number, simple and spiritual people. The Akorino are serious about maintaining the Kikuyu culture traditions and beliefs that predate the modern civilization of the area. They live by a set of rules and there are things members are forbidden to do. For the Akorino the holy spirit is more powerful than God, pork is forbidden, the dead are not allowed anywhere near church premises, the elders exclude themselves from their community 14 days before any important event and they prefer traditional medicine to western medicine. Genital mutilation is also a part of their practices.
In the region, everyone thinks that the Akorino are just normal people, nice people and it is very difficult to get locals to understand how dangerous they are, how they have ripped good people of their lives, potential, confidence and how they control every member's lives. I feel the weapon of choice is psychological torture.
My mother who is in her mid-50’s is a hardworking, kind, simple free-spirited woman of faith who believes in doing good for the world and being right with her creator. And if it wasn't for her, I would never have come to learn and experience the depth of cultism practiced in my community. How deep down some individuals have used their spirituality to lure innocent families into a life of psychological bondage and suffering.
Born into a family of six, I am the second-born daughter of 30 years with two other sisters. The firstborn is now 34 years, and our lastborn is now 15 years. My father is a modern man though. He’s in his mid-70’s and he never wanted anything to do with any religion or spiritual connection. Despite this, he lives his life and enjoys it his best way. My family was well taken care of, and we were not anticipating the breakup that happened after a split.
The Akorino target victims that are broken, lonely, and naïve. Through our different challenges, we became victims ourselves.
I’d heard that every member of the Akorino faith is a prophet unto their own and collectively they operated as one, in a way depending on each other, each with specific praying strengths. When we first moved from my birth village to Kinangop, it never crossed my mind how this religion was going to affect us during the transition to our new environment. We were raised by great parents and our culture does not allow for a child to be weak or emotional. This made it so disappointments were bottled-up when our lives turned unexpectedly.
I was 23 years old when my father walked away from my mother. He called to us one day in town and started explaining why he wanted a separation. It was the beginning of my mother’s dangerous venture for closure. Soon, she became isolated, and began searching for answers. It was a serious life transition and the Akorino were there to support her and draw her in to their practices. The community became close with my mother and before long she was joining her new friends on Sundays in an elder’s houses where they would congregate, sing, chant, and make prophecies of a good future to each other. It would last all day. The ceremonies would close with hours upon hours of continuous chants, and then everyone would go home. This was strange when I saw it for myself. Now I know this kind of endless chanting is one way a cult will hypnotize members. After so long they feel the spirit.
Why did I get close? I was raised to be an obedient daughter.
After entering the Akorino my mother would make me dress up in long oversize dresses and cover my head. I felt out of place but was afraid to go against my mother. We were encouraged to stand on our bare feet; this is because the group believe that every ground they stand on is holy and therefore no shoes allowed. This I would only do around my mother.
At 25 years of age, I had gone through two of the stages of initiation and was halfway initiated into the cult, but I feel most of it was involuntarily. Part of my cooperation was confusion. The other part was family.
I was working in the capital of Kenya, doing well in business and life. My mother was just out of town, getting deeper into the cult which unfortunately my younger sister was also following. I was raised to believe that standing up to my parents would instantly send me a curse from God and when I think back our upbringing was built on a foundation of fear and threats.
It so happened that my business collapsed, and I went back to the village with my mother while I worked towards getting my life together. In this setting was the old rule of "do or be punished" which always worked when coming from my mother.
Now I was getting familiar with the cult a second time. Initiation starts with a 20-liter jar of water, collected from the "Well of God", which I was supposed to drink in dosages of about 200ml every morning and evening before bed. The water was supposed to cleanse and introduce me to a different realm of spiritual dreams. Every dream is interpreted according to Akorino beliefs and most of the interpretations are limited to their strict beliefs. There was another step of initiation that involves going through female genital mutilation (not how they put it) deep in the forest with nothing else but glass pieces on a stone. That way the blood of the victim is supposed to entice the spirits into more blessings.
The Akorino were so persistent in their steps that it became suspicious to me. I don’t want to be trapped by things I do not want nor understand. Soon I became aware of how abnormal the practices were. My journey to fight for my life and my little sister's life began when I watched a video of how dangerous these initiation practices are both physically and emotionally. Female genital mutilation is an illegal practice in Kenya today. There are a lot of dangers that can come as a result. In the Akorino they force girls and women to walk to the forest, undress, and sit on a cold stone where they use a glass piece to cut a sliver out of a woman's clitoris. The practice is a very extreme and has been illegal since independence.
I was not sure about other things either. Being a full member means the world will find you at its mercy for survival. You have to denounce everything you own for the church and live in poverty because they believe that the poor are more loved by God than others. You now become a key part of the old culture and they want you to send threatening messages to non-believers, walking for miles to preach their gospel by foot.
Having experienced emotional and physical torture from my mother in the name of God's orders, I got out and chose to live with my granny in a different village from Kinangop. My little sister went through full initiation, and it scares me what will happen when she realizes what my mother took from her.
From my own experience with the Akorino, it's sad to imagine what others will go through at the hands of liars and cultists. I learned from this to always be alert and believe in whatever I want to do without fear or manipulation.
