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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