Nairobi Star
22 June 2010
Nairobi — FORMER Mungiki sect leader Maina Njenga is quietly rebranding the banned organisation to establish it as a viable political vehicle in readiness for the 2012 elections.
Njenga has taken over the Kenya National Youth Alliance, the sect's political mouthpiece, and managed to convince politicians in Central Province, Nairobi and other parts of Kenya that the sect is now only interested in youth development and peace.
Previously Mungiki was believed to be running extortion and protection rackets, especially in the matatu industry, and used the funds to build up a membership of at least one million.
The intention now is to rebuild trust and confidence with Kenyans and to become a political player in 2012.
Njenga has been campaigning for the proposed constitution through his National Youth Movement for Yes.
"There is nothing wrong if we transform this movement into a political party. What we can do is just to remove the words 'For Yes' and we are left with the National Youth Movement," Maina told the Star in an interview.
He intends to accommodate the interests of both PNU and ODM on condition that "only matters of youth should be addressed." "Our mission is to erase the old image of Maina and the sect. That is why we are preaching peace and asking young people to engage in gainful employment even if it means self employment," said a former MP from Rift Valley who is now working closely with Njenga.
"By mid next year, for sure Maina will decide who becomes an MP in Central Kenya and some parts of the country where we have support. Those who want to be President will have to look for him because his base remains solid and we are converting more people," said the former MP.
Since his release from prison eight months ago, Njenga has managed to closely associate with Prime Minister Raila Odinga's son Fidel, three times share a platform with former President Moi, and several times be a guest at rallies called by current and former Cabinet ministers and MPs campaigning for the proposed constitution.
Last year Njenga successfully appealed against a five-year sentence for possession of an illegal firearm. His release came shortly after he prepared an affidavit for court naming top government officials as members or supporters of Mungiki. The affidavit was never released.
Over the weekend, Njenga was the chief guest at a meeting in Thika town attended by an estimated 5,000 people where he was made a Kikuyu elder.
The meeting organised the 'Kikuyu Council of Elders' was aimed at celebrating Kikuyu culture but turned out to be a Yes rally.
On his release from prison last October, Njenga was baptised and born again. He announced that the Mungiki sect was 'dead'.
Instead of protection rackets, former Mungiki members have now formed small 'saccos' to raise funds to conduct their business. The launch of one sacco in Eastleigh last week was postponed to this week.
Njenga's National Youth Movement for Yes claims to have five million members. It is mapping out strategies to select candidates for civic, parliamentary and presidential elections. He wants it to become a political party before 2012.
According to close associates, Njenga intends to contest a parliamentary seat in Nairobi but would also be interested in becoming a governor in a devolved government if the proposed constitution passes.
Politicians from both President Kibaki's PNU and Prime Minister Raila Odinga's ODM are now hovering around the former Mungiki leader hoping that he will collaborate with them in future.
They have been surprised at the huge numbers turning out at the rallies addressed by Njenga.
Many politicians or their emissaries have visited the offices of the Labour Party of Kenya on Amboseli Road, at the boundary between Nairobi's Lavington and Kawangware, where Njenga operates from.
There is already an existing youth initiative started in October 2005 called the National Youth Movement that he may absorb.
"We know that each other exist, we have worked before with Maina Njenga in his previous outfits and agitations. All young people share common vision and agendas," said Boniface Juma, chairman of the National Youth Movement.
"He has not approached us officially to partner with National Movement for Yes, because it is for campaigning for the proposed constitution. We have our activities running and they will continue running even after the referendum. When need be, we will cooperate with Maina," said Juma.
When he appealed for Sh5 million to offset mortuary fees for his late wife Virginia Nyakio in January, Maina collected Sh9 million, mostly from ordinary youth through M-Pesa and from politicians including finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta, former minister Njenga Karume, Embakasi MP Ferdinand Waititu, Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara, Assistant minister Margaret Wanjiru and former Kabete MP Paul Muite.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Renewed rivalry as ODM, PNU pick candidates
Published on May 7, 2008, 12:00 am
By Standard Team
Hostilities are set to be renewed between the Party of National Unity (PNU) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) as each party picks its candidates and rolls out campaigns for the June 11 parliamentary and civic by-elections.
The Standard reliably learnt last night that negotiations are ongoing between ODM-Kenya, Kanu and PNU together with all its affiliates aimed at fielding one candidate in every electoral area under one party — PNU.
Five parliamentary and 55 civic seats are up for grabs in another contest that is beginning to display all the signs of a cliffhanger.
Its timing — coming hardly before the dust settles on a post-election crisis that drove the country to the brink — easily makes it another life and death affair for the two main coalition partners eager to assert their political supremacy. ODM will be seeking to maintain its dominance of the House, while PNU will be out to wrench leverage from its rival. The numbers remain crucial to both sides.
In Nairobi, where ODM will be seeking to recapture Embakasi, a seat it lost through the death of its youthful MP-elect, the late Mugabe Were, the Mungiki factor is expected to play a role.
But this time the outlawed sect, earlier perceived as sympathetic to PNU, appears to have switched allegiance. Its political leadership has openly stated it will support the ODM.
David Mwenje, who previously held the Embakasi seat before it was wrenched away from him by Were has also since passed away.
Apart from Embakasi, the parties will also fight it out in Emuhaya, Kilgoris, Wajir North and Ainamoi.
The by-elections will be historical in the sense that both PNU and ODM are in Government after being forced into an uneasy cohabitation by a peace deal that hauled the country out of a crippling post-election bloodletting and mayhem triggered by a disputed presidential vote.
Whether President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who signed the historical peace accord that returned sanity to the nation, will go at each other hammer and tongs as was witnessed in last year’s elections also remains to be seen.
"We will not take each other lightly. Even if we are partners, we won’t spare our comrades in Government. Just like a man and his wife find themselves sharing ugali from one plate, but they all end up swallowing for each self but still end up on the same bed after that. That is what will happen when by-elections come," Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o, the ODM secretary-general and Medical Services minister has been quoted saying.
Both the ODM Pentagon campaign centre and the PNU headquarters on Lenana Road, Nairobi, are expected to erupt back to life all over again.
With both sides in Government, civil societies will be watching to see who abuses State resources during the campaigns. It has been common for Cabinet ministers to hit the campaign trail with their official vehicles, raising an outcry from taxpayers and civil rights activists.
Discredited ECK
The December 27 General Election cost the taxpayer Sh5 billion. Supplementary financial estimates released last week show some Sh400 million has been pumped into the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), part of which could go towards funding the mini-polls.
Still standing discredited and currently under investigation over the manner in which it handled the 2007 General Election, the ECK will handle the polls at time when public confidence on its performance is at the lowest ebb.
ODM is already understood to be lining up big names for Embakasi, a constituency with 249,811 registered voters.
Top on the queue is Ms Esther Passaris, whose ambition to become Nairobi Mayor was nipped in the bud after the then Local Government minister, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, rescinded her nomination to City Hall.
"I’ve been approached by a number of residents. But I’m still weighing my options," Passaris, a Nairobi businesswoman, told The Standard by telephone. " I still have the bigger dream of representing the entire city as a Mayor and not just Embakasi Constituency as an MP. I can do more from the City Hall."
Others seeking the seat on an ODM ticket include former Juja MP Mr William Kabogo, Mr Irshad Mohammed Sumra, former Bumula MP Mr Lawrence Sifuna and Mr Stephen Mwanga, who contested the Ugenya Parliamentary seat but lost to Lands minister Mr James Orengo.
Orange House again erupted to life yesterday as the prospective candidates started picking nomination papers. They included Passaris, Kabogo, Mwanga, Sifuna, Prof Tony Wambua, Mr Lameck Kiage, Mr James Kabitu and Nairobi lawyer Mr Robert Asembo.
It is also understood that a brother to the late Mugabe Were, Mr Julius Were, is also interested in the seat on an ODM ticket.
Former councillors Mr Ferdinand Waititu and Mr John Ndirangu both who contested the last General Election are in the race too.
Waititu already has his PNU posters and large banners displayed in the constituency ahead of the by-election.
On the PNU, ODM-Kenya single-candidate consultations, the PNU spokesman and nominated MP Mr George Nyamweya was cautious.
"We’re in consultations but affiliate parties are yet to hold meetings of their respective party organs to ratify any decision," he said.
He said members of the coalition were seeking ways of approaching the by-elections as a united entity, but no decision had been reached yet.
Party deputy executive director Major (Rtd) Francis Matu said the general consensus is that the PNU coalition should field a single candidate.
"The general consensus is that we would like to field one candidate. The party’s’ leadership is going to sit down to agree on the best way forward,’’ said Matu.
Elsewhere, the outlawed Mungiki promised to marshal support for ODM to show solidarity with Raila and his party.
The Lang’ata MP appeared to have opened a new political chapter with the sect on the day he was sworn in as Prime Minister when he stated: "It’s time the Government spoke to Mungiki and listened to their grievances."
Mungiki sect
He even compared the leadership of the sect with that of the Lord’s Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony, saying it started in a similar fashion and now for more than a decade had snowballed into a guerrilla outfit difficult to control.
Last week, Raila seemed to cement this new relationship when he sent Maina Njenga, the jailed Mungiki leader two books of immense political importance —The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Green and Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk To Freedom.
In Wajir North, the Kanu and ODM candidates tied in the last elections, occasioning the by-election.
Emuhaya voters will go to the polls to elect a new MP after Mr Kenneth Marende was elected Speaker of the National Assembly, thus relinquishing the seat as required by law.
The seat has so far attracted scores of personalities including Mr Joshua Otupa, Ms Helen Alitsi, former MP Mr Sheldon Muchilwa and Prof Norah Olembo.
In Kilgoris, fresh elections will be carried out after ECK nullified the results, while in Ainamoi constituents will vote to replace the late David Kimutai Too (ODM), who was shot dead in Eldoret by a policemen in unclear circumstances.
Two former Cabinet ministers who are both now allied to PNU — Mr Gideon Konchela and Mr Julius Sunkuli — could battle it out against each other in Kilgoris.
In Ainamoi, elders from the constituency have already endorsed the candidature of the slain MP’s younger brother, Mr Benjamin Langat. His candidature was given a major boost during the burial when speakers, including top ODM officials, spoke in his support.
In Wajir North constituency, the battle will be between the two candidates — Mr Mohamed Hussein Gabow of ODM and Dr Abdilahi Ali Ibrahim of Kanu — who tied during the December 2007 polls.
Presently ODM has 106 MPs, while PNU has 98. However, a PNU affiliate DP has indicated it will be going it alone. The party’s organising secretary Mr Jacob Haji said DP was not party to PNU’s agreement to sponsor joint candidates for the vacant seats.
Narc Kenya’s Danson Mungatana is also on record stating his party’s position on the by-elections. The Medical Services Assistant minister said Narc Kenya will being going it alone.
-Additional reporting by Joseph Murimi and Beauttah Omanga
By Standard Team
Hostilities are set to be renewed between the Party of National Unity (PNU) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) as each party picks its candidates and rolls out campaigns for the June 11 parliamentary and civic by-elections.
The Standard reliably learnt last night that negotiations are ongoing between ODM-Kenya, Kanu and PNU together with all its affiliates aimed at fielding one candidate in every electoral area under one party — PNU.
Five parliamentary and 55 civic seats are up for grabs in another contest that is beginning to display all the signs of a cliffhanger.
Its timing — coming hardly before the dust settles on a post-election crisis that drove the country to the brink — easily makes it another life and death affair for the two main coalition partners eager to assert their political supremacy. ODM will be seeking to maintain its dominance of the House, while PNU will be out to wrench leverage from its rival. The numbers remain crucial to both sides.
In Nairobi, where ODM will be seeking to recapture Embakasi, a seat it lost through the death of its youthful MP-elect, the late Mugabe Were, the Mungiki factor is expected to play a role.
But this time the outlawed sect, earlier perceived as sympathetic to PNU, appears to have switched allegiance. Its political leadership has openly stated it will support the ODM.
David Mwenje, who previously held the Embakasi seat before it was wrenched away from him by Were has also since passed away.
Apart from Embakasi, the parties will also fight it out in Emuhaya, Kilgoris, Wajir North and Ainamoi.
The by-elections will be historical in the sense that both PNU and ODM are in Government after being forced into an uneasy cohabitation by a peace deal that hauled the country out of a crippling post-election bloodletting and mayhem triggered by a disputed presidential vote.
Whether President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who signed the historical peace accord that returned sanity to the nation, will go at each other hammer and tongs as was witnessed in last year’s elections also remains to be seen.
"We will not take each other lightly. Even if we are partners, we won’t spare our comrades in Government. Just like a man and his wife find themselves sharing ugali from one plate, but they all end up swallowing for each self but still end up on the same bed after that. That is what will happen when by-elections come," Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o, the ODM secretary-general and Medical Services minister has been quoted saying.
Both the ODM Pentagon campaign centre and the PNU headquarters on Lenana Road, Nairobi, are expected to erupt back to life all over again.
With both sides in Government, civil societies will be watching to see who abuses State resources during the campaigns. It has been common for Cabinet ministers to hit the campaign trail with their official vehicles, raising an outcry from taxpayers and civil rights activists.
Discredited ECK
The December 27 General Election cost the taxpayer Sh5 billion. Supplementary financial estimates released last week show some Sh400 million has been pumped into the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), part of which could go towards funding the mini-polls.
Still standing discredited and currently under investigation over the manner in which it handled the 2007 General Election, the ECK will handle the polls at time when public confidence on its performance is at the lowest ebb.
ODM is already understood to be lining up big names for Embakasi, a constituency with 249,811 registered voters.
Top on the queue is Ms Esther Passaris, whose ambition to become Nairobi Mayor was nipped in the bud after the then Local Government minister, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, rescinded her nomination to City Hall.
"I’ve been approached by a number of residents. But I’m still weighing my options," Passaris, a Nairobi businesswoman, told The Standard by telephone. " I still have the bigger dream of representing the entire city as a Mayor and not just Embakasi Constituency as an MP. I can do more from the City Hall."
Others seeking the seat on an ODM ticket include former Juja MP Mr William Kabogo, Mr Irshad Mohammed Sumra, former Bumula MP Mr Lawrence Sifuna and Mr Stephen Mwanga, who contested the Ugenya Parliamentary seat but lost to Lands minister Mr James Orengo.
Orange House again erupted to life yesterday as the prospective candidates started picking nomination papers. They included Passaris, Kabogo, Mwanga, Sifuna, Prof Tony Wambua, Mr Lameck Kiage, Mr James Kabitu and Nairobi lawyer Mr Robert Asembo.
It is also understood that a brother to the late Mugabe Were, Mr Julius Were, is also interested in the seat on an ODM ticket.
Former councillors Mr Ferdinand Waititu and Mr John Ndirangu both who contested the last General Election are in the race too.
Waititu already has his PNU posters and large banners displayed in the constituency ahead of the by-election.
On the PNU, ODM-Kenya single-candidate consultations, the PNU spokesman and nominated MP Mr George Nyamweya was cautious.
"We’re in consultations but affiliate parties are yet to hold meetings of their respective party organs to ratify any decision," he said.
He said members of the coalition were seeking ways of approaching the by-elections as a united entity, but no decision had been reached yet.
Party deputy executive director Major (Rtd) Francis Matu said the general consensus is that the PNU coalition should field a single candidate.
"The general consensus is that we would like to field one candidate. The party’s’ leadership is going to sit down to agree on the best way forward,’’ said Matu.
Elsewhere, the outlawed Mungiki promised to marshal support for ODM to show solidarity with Raila and his party.
The Lang’ata MP appeared to have opened a new political chapter with the sect on the day he was sworn in as Prime Minister when he stated: "It’s time the Government spoke to Mungiki and listened to their grievances."
Mungiki sect
He even compared the leadership of the sect with that of the Lord’s Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony, saying it started in a similar fashion and now for more than a decade had snowballed into a guerrilla outfit difficult to control.
Last week, Raila seemed to cement this new relationship when he sent Maina Njenga, the jailed Mungiki leader two books of immense political importance —The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Green and Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk To Freedom.
In Wajir North, the Kanu and ODM candidates tied in the last elections, occasioning the by-election.
Emuhaya voters will go to the polls to elect a new MP after Mr Kenneth Marende was elected Speaker of the National Assembly, thus relinquishing the seat as required by law.
The seat has so far attracted scores of personalities including Mr Joshua Otupa, Ms Helen Alitsi, former MP Mr Sheldon Muchilwa and Prof Norah Olembo.
In Kilgoris, fresh elections will be carried out after ECK nullified the results, while in Ainamoi constituents will vote to replace the late David Kimutai Too (ODM), who was shot dead in Eldoret by a policemen in unclear circumstances.
Two former Cabinet ministers who are both now allied to PNU — Mr Gideon Konchela and Mr Julius Sunkuli — could battle it out against each other in Kilgoris.
In Ainamoi, elders from the constituency have already endorsed the candidature of the slain MP’s younger brother, Mr Benjamin Langat. His candidature was given a major boost during the burial when speakers, including top ODM officials, spoke in his support.
In Wajir North constituency, the battle will be between the two candidates — Mr Mohamed Hussein Gabow of ODM and Dr Abdilahi Ali Ibrahim of Kanu — who tied during the December 2007 polls.
Presently ODM has 106 MPs, while PNU has 98. However, a PNU affiliate DP has indicated it will be going it alone. The party’s organising secretary Mr Jacob Haji said DP was not party to PNU’s agreement to sponsor joint candidates for the vacant seats.
Narc Kenya’s Danson Mungatana is also on record stating his party’s position on the by-elections. The Medical Services Assistant minister said Narc Kenya will being going it alone.
-Additional reporting by Joseph Murimi and Beauttah Omanga
Revelations of jailed Mungiki leader
April 30, 2008
The Standard Team
The Government has broken unprecedented ground by formally making contact with the outlawed Mungiki sect and launching talks with its jailed leader, Maina Njenga, in a bid to tame the group’s daring excesses.
Details of how the Government has sent high-level emissaries to talk with the Mungiki leader emerged in an exclusive first media interview he granted The Standard on Wednesday at the Naivasha Maximum Security Prison.
As Njenga spoke in jail, an indicator of how the Government is changing tact in handling Mungiki was given by seven central Kenya politicians who called for his release. Former Cabinet ministers Mr Njenga Karume, Mr Joseph Kamotho, former MPs Mr Macharia Mukiri, Mr Waithaka Mwangi, Mrs Jane Kihara, Mr Daniel Karaba and Maragwa MP Mr Elias Mbau met in a Nairobi hotel from where they called for the sect leader’s release.
Njenga sounded optimistic of his possible release, saying he had told his family to stop the burial of his slain wife pending the outcome of the talks.
In a lengthy three-hour interview, Njenga made stunning revelations, saying he had met with a delegation led by former Provincial Commissioner Mr Cyrus Maina, who broke ground for talks to seek peace between the Mungiki and the Government.
Njenga said he had twice met the former Nairobi and Coast PC Maina, Catholic Priest Fr Ndikaru wa Teresia and ODM pointman Mr SK Thande.
Maina and Fr Ndikaru, the latter who is well-known to Njenga, were said to have been sent by the Office of the President while Thande, the Lang’ata Constituency Development Fund chairman, represented the Prime Minister’s office.
The first meeting took place last weekend but the initial contact was scuttled by the mysterious killing on Monday of two key Mungiki leaders on the Naivasha-Nairobi highway, Njenga said.
Giving dialogue a chanceHe added that the two leaders, acting Mungiki political wing chairman Charles Ndung’u Wagacha (chairman of the Kenya National Youth Alliance) and treasurer Naftali Irungu, were heading to Naivasha prison for a second scheduled meeting between him and the Government team, which aborted after they were killed.
But despite the killing of his lieutenants, Njenga said he still held another meeting on Tuesday with the former PC and his team, in which he presented Mungiki tribulations as targets of the police.
Njenga said despite the killing of his close allies, he agreed to the Government request to call on his sect to end all forms of violence and give dialogue a chance.
“We believe our talks will bear fruit and I have directed all our followers to stop engaging in violence. Police should also stop killing innocent youths now. We want peace,” he said.
Njenga claimed he had talked to Raila on phone over the ongoing situation of alleged police brutality. He said Raila told him that the Government was now different, and he could not allow it to oppress the poor.
He said he spoke to Raila on April 21, in a telephone conversation also overheard by senior prison officers. The Mungiki leader claimed the PM assured him that justice would prevail as long as he served in Government.
A fortnight ago, the PM had made a proposal to pursue peace with the banned sect.
Njenga, who spoke in a secluded section of the prison while clad in the stripped prison uniform known by inmates as kunguru, said his two deputies who were killed had documents implicating police in arbitrary executions, which they wanted to hand to the Government team.
“But we still managed to get photocopies of the documents later and handed them to for PC Maina on Tuesday to give to the President and the PM,” said Njenga.
He blamed police for high-level the executions, including that of his wife early this month, saying they plotted to finish the group’s top leadership.
He claimed for the first time that his former lawyer, Juliana Orieyo — who was killed mysteriously late last year — was a victim of police execution.
Executions politicalNjenga said he wanted the whole country to know of the start and progress of the talks between the sect and the Government.
The officer-in-charge of the prison, Mr Patrick Mwenda, confirmed that emissaries had visited Njenga twice in a bid to find peace over the ongoing clashes between the sect followers and the police.
Njenga said he would pursue the path to peace offered by the Government but demanded that police be restrained from killing suspected Mungiki youths.
He spoke bitterly, with tears welling up in his eyes, of his slain wife Virginia Nyakio, and dismissed as police propaganda, claims that he may have ordered her death due to infidelity.
Njenga said he had stopped the burial of his wife, her driver George Njoroge and the two men who were shot dead on Monday to await the outcome of the talks.
“There is no need for us to bury them and allow for more such killings,” he said.
The sect leader said all the four deceased were his relatives and he was in agony. But he encouraged his followers not to fear death and to soldier on as members of the movement.
Njenga said the movement had demanded an overhaul of the leadership of the police force as “it was letting down the Government”.
He demanded that Mungiki followers be allowed to give their views at the yet-to-be formed Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission.
A composed Njenga, who was armed with three political books and a Bible, said the ongoing clash between police and Mungiki youths was political and vowed to solve it.
Njenga caressed the books — 48 Rules of Power and Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom, both of which he said were sent to him by Raila, and Cry of the Oppressed, which he said was given to him by Fr Ndikaru.
“The war on succession in Central Kenya is behind the brutality that you are witnessing. A clique of the region’s elite is fearing the Mungiki revolution and now they are using police to suppress and oppress the youths but we will not accept that. We believe the new Government will listen to us,” he said.
He said the Central Kenya elite feared that the youths no longer supported them politically.
Njenga feared that innocent youths would continue to be killed under mysterious circumstances if the talks failed.
He said there were no divisions in the sect, and challenged anyone with parallel leadership to come out and let the public know.
He also revealed that his movement supported ODM in the last General Election and the sect feels it is now part of the Government.
Njenga went ahead to urge Embakasi constituents to back an ODM candidate in the coming by-election, saying the late area MP, Mugabe Were, had been his personal friend.
The Central Kenya leaders who supported Njenga demanded his release so that he could lead talks between the sect and the Government.
“We ask for the release of Maina, even if on bond, so as to lead a delegation to see the PM. The PM has assured them that he would address their plight. That’s the way to go if we want to end the crisis,” he said.
“Mr (Raila) Odinga has shown the wise way of ending the crisis. This is the only sure way of striking a compromise between the sect and Government. Bullets and guns will not end it,” said Karume, the immediate former Defence minister in Kibaki’s Government.
The Standard Team
The Government has broken unprecedented ground by formally making contact with the outlawed Mungiki sect and launching talks with its jailed leader, Maina Njenga, in a bid to tame the group’s daring excesses.
Details of how the Government has sent high-level emissaries to talk with the Mungiki leader emerged in an exclusive first media interview he granted The Standard on Wednesday at the Naivasha Maximum Security Prison.
As Njenga spoke in jail, an indicator of how the Government is changing tact in handling Mungiki was given by seven central Kenya politicians who called for his release. Former Cabinet ministers Mr Njenga Karume, Mr Joseph Kamotho, former MPs Mr Macharia Mukiri, Mr Waithaka Mwangi, Mrs Jane Kihara, Mr Daniel Karaba and Maragwa MP Mr Elias Mbau met in a Nairobi hotel from where they called for the sect leader’s release.
Njenga sounded optimistic of his possible release, saying he had told his family to stop the burial of his slain wife pending the outcome of the talks.
In a lengthy three-hour interview, Njenga made stunning revelations, saying he had met with a delegation led by former Provincial Commissioner Mr Cyrus Maina, who broke ground for talks to seek peace between the Mungiki and the Government.
Njenga said he had twice met the former Nairobi and Coast PC Maina, Catholic Priest Fr Ndikaru wa Teresia and ODM pointman Mr SK Thande.
Maina and Fr Ndikaru, the latter who is well-known to Njenga, were said to have been sent by the Office of the President while Thande, the Lang’ata Constituency Development Fund chairman, represented the Prime Minister’s office.
The first meeting took place last weekend but the initial contact was scuttled by the mysterious killing on Monday of two key Mungiki leaders on the Naivasha-Nairobi highway, Njenga said.
Giving dialogue a chanceHe added that the two leaders, acting Mungiki political wing chairman Charles Ndung’u Wagacha (chairman of the Kenya National Youth Alliance) and treasurer Naftali Irungu, were heading to Naivasha prison for a second scheduled meeting between him and the Government team, which aborted after they were killed.
But despite the killing of his lieutenants, Njenga said he still held another meeting on Tuesday with the former PC and his team, in which he presented Mungiki tribulations as targets of the police.
Njenga said despite the killing of his close allies, he agreed to the Government request to call on his sect to end all forms of violence and give dialogue a chance.
“We believe our talks will bear fruit and I have directed all our followers to stop engaging in violence. Police should also stop killing innocent youths now. We want peace,” he said.
Njenga claimed he had talked to Raila on phone over the ongoing situation of alleged police brutality. He said Raila told him that the Government was now different, and he could not allow it to oppress the poor.
He said he spoke to Raila on April 21, in a telephone conversation also overheard by senior prison officers. The Mungiki leader claimed the PM assured him that justice would prevail as long as he served in Government.
A fortnight ago, the PM had made a proposal to pursue peace with the banned sect.
Njenga, who spoke in a secluded section of the prison while clad in the stripped prison uniform known by inmates as kunguru, said his two deputies who were killed had documents implicating police in arbitrary executions, which they wanted to hand to the Government team.
“But we still managed to get photocopies of the documents later and handed them to for PC Maina on Tuesday to give to the President and the PM,” said Njenga.
He blamed police for high-level the executions, including that of his wife early this month, saying they plotted to finish the group’s top leadership.
He claimed for the first time that his former lawyer, Juliana Orieyo — who was killed mysteriously late last year — was a victim of police execution.
Executions politicalNjenga said he wanted the whole country to know of the start and progress of the talks between the sect and the Government.
The officer-in-charge of the prison, Mr Patrick Mwenda, confirmed that emissaries had visited Njenga twice in a bid to find peace over the ongoing clashes between the sect followers and the police.
Njenga said he would pursue the path to peace offered by the Government but demanded that police be restrained from killing suspected Mungiki youths.
He spoke bitterly, with tears welling up in his eyes, of his slain wife Virginia Nyakio, and dismissed as police propaganda, claims that he may have ordered her death due to infidelity.
Njenga said he had stopped the burial of his wife, her driver George Njoroge and the two men who were shot dead on Monday to await the outcome of the talks.
“There is no need for us to bury them and allow for more such killings,” he said.
The sect leader said all the four deceased were his relatives and he was in agony. But he encouraged his followers not to fear death and to soldier on as members of the movement.
Njenga said the movement had demanded an overhaul of the leadership of the police force as “it was letting down the Government”.
He demanded that Mungiki followers be allowed to give their views at the yet-to-be formed Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission.
A composed Njenga, who was armed with three political books and a Bible, said the ongoing clash between police and Mungiki youths was political and vowed to solve it.
Njenga caressed the books — 48 Rules of Power and Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom, both of which he said were sent to him by Raila, and Cry of the Oppressed, which he said was given to him by Fr Ndikaru.
“The war on succession in Central Kenya is behind the brutality that you are witnessing. A clique of the region’s elite is fearing the Mungiki revolution and now they are using police to suppress and oppress the youths but we will not accept that. We believe the new Government will listen to us,” he said.
He said the Central Kenya elite feared that the youths no longer supported them politically.
Njenga feared that innocent youths would continue to be killed under mysterious circumstances if the talks failed.
He said there were no divisions in the sect, and challenged anyone with parallel leadership to come out and let the public know.
He also revealed that his movement supported ODM in the last General Election and the sect feels it is now part of the Government.
Njenga went ahead to urge Embakasi constituents to back an ODM candidate in the coming by-election, saying the late area MP, Mugabe Were, had been his personal friend.
The Central Kenya leaders who supported Njenga demanded his release so that he could lead talks between the sect and the Government.
“We ask for the release of Maina, even if on bond, so as to lead a delegation to see the PM. The PM has assured them that he would address their plight. That’s the way to go if we want to end the crisis,” he said.
“Mr (Raila) Odinga has shown the wise way of ending the crisis. This is the only sure way of striking a compromise between the sect and Government. Bullets and guns will not end it,” said Karume, the immediate former Defence minister in Kibaki’s Government.
Raila stable as leaders unite to wish him well
Friday, 3rd September 2010
By Standard Team
If those who saw Prime Minister Raila Odinga in hospital report, they would simply tell you his grip is back. And indeed when two former Vice-Presidents visited him, he left his bed, stood between them, and swung his hands over their shoulders as his Press crew took pictures.
Visitors reported the PMs radiant smile was returning and he was in a jovial mood despite the admission to hospital.
The doctor’s verdict, too, was that the PM was making good progress, something that made them get him off the drip. "He had a good night and all I can tell Kenyans is that he is recovering fast. We have restricted the number of visitors to ensure he rests," his doctor, David Livingstone Oluoch-Olunya told the country.
Hardly 24 hours after he was operated on the left side of the head to ease pressure on his brain, the PM had a busy day on his bed, talking with those who showed up to wish him well.
They included President Kibaki, who because of his near-fatal accident in 2002 is familiar with the VIP room Raila is admitted to. The President’s handlers shrugged off news crews, including the Head of State’s, and he was with Raila for an hour. He had been to Lanet for a military pass-out parade before making his way back to Nairobi, and to the hospital to see his partner in the Coalition Government – a man he has fought many political battles with, including among themselves, reconciled, and often traded words.
Retired President Moi also sent a get-well-soon message to Raila and wished his family well, too.
The international interest in Raila’s state could be seen from the number of foreign diplomats who went to see him, including US ambassador on Tuesday, and a high-ranking European Union delegation, yesterday.
Though the PM is under doctor’s orders to rest for five days, something that demands tight control of visitors seeing him, the flow of well wishers was constant and in profile, they were Kenya’s movers and shakers.
They included two former Vice Presidents –George Saitoti and Moody Awori. Others were captains of blue chip companies such as Safaricom Managing Director Michael Joseph. The Cabinet, too, was not left out in walking to the PM’s bedside to cheer up, wish the PM well, and see for themselves how their boss was faring on.
Head of European Union delegation in Kenya, Eric van der Linden, said Raila was in a jovial mood and they, too, discussed football.
Former head of proscribed Mungiki Sect Maina Njenga who was accompanied by Raila’s son, Fidel, also walked into the ward and came out saying the PM was in a jovial mood. When Njenga was in prison, Raila sent him the all-time popular read, The 48 Rules of Power.
Those who saw him said Raila wanted to get off the bed and go about his business were it not for the doctor’s orders. Raila checked into the hospital on Monday evening after complaining of a headache and fatigue.
On Tuesday, sources said, family members, relatives, and friends contemplated flying out the Prime Minister to a medical facility where he could get complete rest, away from streams of visitors.
Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000012876&cid=4
By Standard Team
If those who saw Prime Minister Raila Odinga in hospital report, they would simply tell you his grip is back. And indeed when two former Vice-Presidents visited him, he left his bed, stood between them, and swung his hands over their shoulders as his Press crew took pictures.
Visitors reported the PMs radiant smile was returning and he was in a jovial mood despite the admission to hospital.
The doctor’s verdict, too, was that the PM was making good progress, something that made them get him off the drip. "He had a good night and all I can tell Kenyans is that he is recovering fast. We have restricted the number of visitors to ensure he rests," his doctor, David Livingstone Oluoch-Olunya told the country.
Hardly 24 hours after he was operated on the left side of the head to ease pressure on his brain, the PM had a busy day on his bed, talking with those who showed up to wish him well.
They included President Kibaki, who because of his near-fatal accident in 2002 is familiar with the VIP room Raila is admitted to. The President’s handlers shrugged off news crews, including the Head of State’s, and he was with Raila for an hour. He had been to Lanet for a military pass-out parade before making his way back to Nairobi, and to the hospital to see his partner in the Coalition Government – a man he has fought many political battles with, including among themselves, reconciled, and often traded words.
Retired President Moi also sent a get-well-soon message to Raila and wished his family well, too.
The international interest in Raila’s state could be seen from the number of foreign diplomats who went to see him, including US ambassador on Tuesday, and a high-ranking European Union delegation, yesterday.
Though the PM is under doctor’s orders to rest for five days, something that demands tight control of visitors seeing him, the flow of well wishers was constant and in profile, they were Kenya’s movers and shakers.
They included two former Vice Presidents –George Saitoti and Moody Awori. Others were captains of blue chip companies such as Safaricom Managing Director Michael Joseph. The Cabinet, too, was not left out in walking to the PM’s bedside to cheer up, wish the PM well, and see for themselves how their boss was faring on.
Head of European Union delegation in Kenya, Eric van der Linden, said Raila was in a jovial mood and they, too, discussed football.
Former head of proscribed Mungiki Sect Maina Njenga who was accompanied by Raila’s son, Fidel, also walked into the ward and came out saying the PM was in a jovial mood. When Njenga was in prison, Raila sent him the all-time popular read, The 48 Rules of Power.
Those who saw him said Raila wanted to get off the bed and go about his business were it not for the doctor’s orders. Raila checked into the hospital on Monday evening after complaining of a headache and fatigue.
On Tuesday, sources said, family members, relatives, and friends contemplated flying out the Prime Minister to a medical facility where he could get complete rest, away from streams of visitors.
Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000012876&cid=4
Mungiki ruthlessness returns
The Standard
December 23, 2009
By CCI Writer
The proscribed Mungiki gang is undergoing a transformation that has seen it adopt time-tested but ruthless methods of winning power, CCI can reveal.
The gang, known for its vicious attacks, has recently changed tact in its approach in the recruitment and indoctrination of members.
The pseudo-religious group that police blame for many crimes, including abduction and murders, has adopted new modes of running its underworld activities, mainly drawn from author Robert Greene’s 48 Rules of Power.
Published in 1998, Green’s book is a guide to obtaining power through deceit and cunning.
CCI established that the gang has translated the rules into Gikuyu language and published in booklets, which have recently become part of its creed and teachings.
Gift from the PM
The rules are taught to members during its recruitment drives in what police believe is an attempt to indoctrinate the youth fully before joining its extortion and murderous ring.
Green’s book is one of the several books given to Mungiki leader Maina Njenga by Prime Minister Raila Odinga while serving time at Naivasha Maximum Security Prison last year.
In an interview with The Standard last year, Njenga said the book, together with Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom, were given to him by Raila.
Last week, an official at the Prime Minister’s office confirmed the Raila sent the books but declined to discuss the matter further.
However, he said the book was delivered to Njenga by emissaries. At the time, leaders were reaching out to Mungiki and were calling for dialogue aimed at persuading the gang to stop the mayhem.
What could have been a gesture of the Government’s commitment to dialogue with Mungiki seems to have backfired, with the sect now picking the rules and transforming them into its own cruel creed.
The booklets are part of paraphernalia found by police in Mungiki oathing ceremonies across Central Province in recent months, where recruits were urged to commit the teachings to memory.
Former sect leader Maina Njenga with a Bible after he got saved.
A brief description of the book on the online bookstore www.Amazon.com says it "distills three thousand years of the history of power into 48 well explicated laws."
The rules advocate for ruthlessness in pursuit of control, with the fifteenth law urging those thirsting for power to "crush your enemy totally".
Greene himself borrows from other writers, including Italian Nicollo Machiaveli, whose book, The Prince, is regarded a gem by many in pursuit of power.
Grabbing power
Police believe Mungiki’s adoption of new methods of grabbing power is only part of the transformations it has gone through since it sprouted in the 1990s. It has moved from a traditional religious worship to a political movement founded in secularism and outright extortion.
Mungiki leader Maina Njenga’s alleged conversion to Christianity led hordes of gang members to the charismatic Jesus is Alive Ministries, which is steered by Starehe MP Bishop Margaret Wanjiru.
"Underworld gangs operate like this and keep on transforming themselves," said a senior police officer. "It’s usually a form of camouflage. Just look at the life of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar."
Escobar, who once controlled about 80 per cent of the cocaine smuggled into the United States, camouflaged himself through philanthropic activities, including building scores of churches.
The officer, who asked not to be named, said excerpts from Greene’s book started emerging in Mungiki ceremonies around September last year.
CCI saw the translated version of the rules, which were seized at a Mungiki oathing ceremony in Kirinyaga just after the Mathira massacre that left 29 people dead in April.
The officer said scrutiny of its activities showed that the gang was re-inventing itself after a fierce crackdown by police in 2007 that saw gang members turn against each other.
The officer said disagreements and turf wars worsened when police arrested five Mungiki suspects in Mukuru kwa Njenga slums, who gave valuable information that led to the recovery of four AK-47 rifles later in the day. The four were released without charge for helping police and promising to become informers.
However, other gang members turned on them, sparking a round of suspicion, mistrust and turf wars that nearly scuttled it.
At the time, Njenga was doing time in Naivasha. The officer said the gang is believed to have found a new lease of life when it was hired to attack members of certain communities in Naivasha at the height of post-election violence last year.
Active extortion ring
The Waki commission said in its report the Naivasha killings were planned at State House, where politicians later hired and transported mungiki for a murderous orgy that left 14 dead – including one family of 11 – and houses torched.
But even with claims of salvation and an appearance of lull in activities of the gang, CCI established that its extortion ring is very much alive.
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe also confirmed killings were going on and cited the killing of a matatu driver who was stabbed last Tuesday at Gachie for refusing to co-operate with Mungiki members. His vehicle plied the Nairobi-Gachie route.
He said: "The gory details may not be there, but from what fellow matatu drivers have told us, we know he was killed by Mungiki. Yes, the killings are going on," Kiraithe said.
Kiraithe said police were closely studying the gang’s transformations and noted it was still active.
He would not comment on whether police had established who had taken over the mantle from Njenga if he had truly reformed, but confirmed "there is certainly no leadership vacuum in the gang".
"We are aware it is still operating, but we’ll continue using legal means to ensure they are stopped," said Kiraithe.
Kiraithe confirmed the gang had turned Greene’s book into its creed, saying the booklets had been found in Mungiki meetings.
Illegal levies
CCI established that the gang is still in operation especially around Nairobi. In Kayole, one of the gang’s strongholds, residents said it was still charging illegal fees at construction sites and from transporters. Lorries and pick-up trucks have to pay for merely passing through the estate.
"Nothing has changed," a resident said, and asked not to be named for fear of reprisal. "If you are building a house, they come to assess it and then arrive at a figure which you must pay."
However, another resident said although still active, the gang appeared to be concealing its activities. She said gang members were no longer collecting levies and ordering people around in the open.
Police sources also confirmed that the gang members are collecting money at the Muthurwa hawkers’ market and Wakulima Market, just a block away from Jesus Is Alive Ministries’ headquarters where many Mungiki members have renounced the sect and professed Jesus publicly.
December 23, 2009
By CCI Writer
The proscribed Mungiki gang is undergoing a transformation that has seen it adopt time-tested but ruthless methods of winning power, CCI can reveal.
The gang, known for its vicious attacks, has recently changed tact in its approach in the recruitment and indoctrination of members.
The pseudo-religious group that police blame for many crimes, including abduction and murders, has adopted new modes of running its underworld activities, mainly drawn from author Robert Greene’s 48 Rules of Power.
Published in 1998, Green’s book is a guide to obtaining power through deceit and cunning.
CCI established that the gang has translated the rules into Gikuyu language and published in booklets, which have recently become part of its creed and teachings.
Gift from the PM
The rules are taught to members during its recruitment drives in what police believe is an attempt to indoctrinate the youth fully before joining its extortion and murderous ring.
Green’s book is one of the several books given to Mungiki leader Maina Njenga by Prime Minister Raila Odinga while serving time at Naivasha Maximum Security Prison last year.
In an interview with The Standard last year, Njenga said the book, together with Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom, were given to him by Raila.
Last week, an official at the Prime Minister’s office confirmed the Raila sent the books but declined to discuss the matter further.
However, he said the book was delivered to Njenga by emissaries. At the time, leaders were reaching out to Mungiki and were calling for dialogue aimed at persuading the gang to stop the mayhem.
What could have been a gesture of the Government’s commitment to dialogue with Mungiki seems to have backfired, with the sect now picking the rules and transforming them into its own cruel creed.
The booklets are part of paraphernalia found by police in Mungiki oathing ceremonies across Central Province in recent months, where recruits were urged to commit the teachings to memory.
Former sect leader Maina Njenga with a Bible after he got saved.
A brief description of the book on the online bookstore www.Amazon.com says it "distills three thousand years of the history of power into 48 well explicated laws."
The rules advocate for ruthlessness in pursuit of control, with the fifteenth law urging those thirsting for power to "crush your enemy totally".
Greene himself borrows from other writers, including Italian Nicollo Machiaveli, whose book, The Prince, is regarded a gem by many in pursuit of power.
Grabbing power
Police believe Mungiki’s adoption of new methods of grabbing power is only part of the transformations it has gone through since it sprouted in the 1990s. It has moved from a traditional religious worship to a political movement founded in secularism and outright extortion.
Mungiki leader Maina Njenga’s alleged conversion to Christianity led hordes of gang members to the charismatic Jesus is Alive Ministries, which is steered by Starehe MP Bishop Margaret Wanjiru.
"Underworld gangs operate like this and keep on transforming themselves," said a senior police officer. "It’s usually a form of camouflage. Just look at the life of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar."
Escobar, who once controlled about 80 per cent of the cocaine smuggled into the United States, camouflaged himself through philanthropic activities, including building scores of churches.
The officer, who asked not to be named, said excerpts from Greene’s book started emerging in Mungiki ceremonies around September last year.
CCI saw the translated version of the rules, which were seized at a Mungiki oathing ceremony in Kirinyaga just after the Mathira massacre that left 29 people dead in April.
The officer said scrutiny of its activities showed that the gang was re-inventing itself after a fierce crackdown by police in 2007 that saw gang members turn against each other.
The officer said disagreements and turf wars worsened when police arrested five Mungiki suspects in Mukuru kwa Njenga slums, who gave valuable information that led to the recovery of four AK-47 rifles later in the day. The four were released without charge for helping police and promising to become informers.
However, other gang members turned on them, sparking a round of suspicion, mistrust and turf wars that nearly scuttled it.
At the time, Njenga was doing time in Naivasha. The officer said the gang is believed to have found a new lease of life when it was hired to attack members of certain communities in Naivasha at the height of post-election violence last year.
Active extortion ring
The Waki commission said in its report the Naivasha killings were planned at State House, where politicians later hired and transported mungiki for a murderous orgy that left 14 dead – including one family of 11 – and houses torched.
But even with claims of salvation and an appearance of lull in activities of the gang, CCI established that its extortion ring is very much alive.
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe also confirmed killings were going on and cited the killing of a matatu driver who was stabbed last Tuesday at Gachie for refusing to co-operate with Mungiki members. His vehicle plied the Nairobi-Gachie route.
He said: "The gory details may not be there, but from what fellow matatu drivers have told us, we know he was killed by Mungiki. Yes, the killings are going on," Kiraithe said.
Kiraithe said police were closely studying the gang’s transformations and noted it was still active.
He would not comment on whether police had established who had taken over the mantle from Njenga if he had truly reformed, but confirmed "there is certainly no leadership vacuum in the gang".
"We are aware it is still operating, but we’ll continue using legal means to ensure they are stopped," said Kiraithe.
Kiraithe confirmed the gang had turned Greene’s book into its creed, saying the booklets had been found in Mungiki meetings.
Illegal levies
CCI established that the gang is still in operation especially around Nairobi. In Kayole, one of the gang’s strongholds, residents said it was still charging illegal fees at construction sites and from transporters. Lorries and pick-up trucks have to pay for merely passing through the estate.
"Nothing has changed," a resident said, and asked not to be named for fear of reprisal. "If you are building a house, they come to assess it and then arrive at a figure which you must pay."
However, another resident said although still active, the gang appeared to be concealing its activities. She said gang members were no longer collecting levies and ordering people around in the open.
Police sources also confirmed that the gang members are collecting money at the Muthurwa hawkers’ market and Wakulima Market, just a block away from Jesus Is Alive Ministries’ headquarters where many Mungiki members have renounced the sect and professed Jesus publicly.
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