Devil worship rampant in schools

When Philip Onyancha was a Form One student at Kenyatta Mahiga High School in Nyeri, then President Daniel arap Moi appointed a commission to inquire into devil worship in Kenya.

At that time, the country was throbbing with claims of widespread devil worship with some reports linking the practice to people in high places.

The commission headed by Archbishop Nicodemus Kirima, was appointed in March 1995 when Onyancha was in his first term in secondary school.

For his efforts in trying to literally unearth the devil, Archbishop Kirima and his commissioners were derided by critics who disparaged their report when it was published in 1999.

Onyancha, who has sensationally claimed to have killed 17 people, has claimed his actions are a result of a cult into which he was inducted while in high school.

In the context of the findings and recommendations of the Kirima Commission, perhaps the inquiry had merit.  The commission reported that it had found evidence of students who were occultists.

“The members consider themselves above the law and are organised into cults. Evidence of such Satanism was found in schools which the commission visited,” the report stated.

The team had been established to investigate whether there were devil worship cults in Kenya and whether they were linked to drug abuse and other anti-social activities.

The commission traversed the country recording views of the public, religious and political leaders, students, teachers and heads of educational institutions.

It presented its report to the President towards the end of 1995. Nothing was heard about it until a year later when Mr Moi said it would not be made public because it contained sensitive information.

This, in turn, fuelled speculation with claims in Parliament that the government was reluctant to publish the report because it had fingered prominent people.

The report was not made public until 1999 when the Nation published parts of the findings that had been selectively released to religious organisations.

“Devil worshippers are usually wealthy and prominent people who drive expensive cars. Some of them own large commercial enterprises,” the report claimed.

The report said devil worshippers use their wealth to attract new members and gave graphic details of initiation rites including eating human flesh and licking blood.

“Recruitment is clandestine with prospects unaware that they are being lured into a cult. Members are taken to secluded places at night with initiates stripping naked in front of other members,” the commissioners found out.

It went on to say that prayers were conducted by a high priest in a “strange language” while incisions were made in the initiates to draw blood which was mixed with other substances and given to the recruits.

The report said satanism had infiltrated Kenya’s schools and colleges to the extent that it could derail the country’s national objectives.

“If not checked, it could wreck the country’s educational programmes. Headteachers and their staff do not understand the significance of the features of devil worship and regard problems with students as simply poor discipline, ” said the report.