Save A Kenyan Calls for Strengthened Community Safeguards Following Rescue of Cult-Held Children in Mombasa

Save A Kenyan Initiative (SAKI) expresses deep concern following reports of 27 individuals, including children, rescued from a religious sect in Changamwe, Mombasa, allegedly confined and 

isolated under extremist conditions. We commend the swift action by security agencies and the vigilance of community members that led to the intervention.

Early reports indicate that children were withdrawn from school, denied medical care, and subjected to isolation from the community; behaviours consistent with coercive religious extremism and indoctrination practices. This incident underscores the urgent need for community-based vigilance, child-protection mechanisms, and psychosocial support pathways to counter rising sect-related radicalisation activities in Kenya.

As an organisation committed to safeguarding vulnerable communities from violent extremist influences, Save A Kenyan Initiative emphasises that victims of coercive religious extremism require trauma-informed support, rehabilitation, and reintegration – not stigma or criminalisation.

Our Immediate Response

Save A Kenya will work closely with authorities, local religious leaders, and child-protection agencies to ensure affected individuals, especially minors, receive :-

• Emergency psychosocial and trauma support
• Faith-sensitive deradicalisation counselling
• Educational reintegration assistance for children
• Family and community support services to foster safe reintegration

Save A Kenyan Initiative reaffirms its commitment to working with national and grassroots actors to build safe, resilient, and inclusive communities where no child is exploited under the guise of religion.