NAIROBI, KENYA: Former Mungiki leader
Maina Njenga has denied responsibility for the
Kitengela killings, saying he is not fighting for
land with anybody and no longer controls the
sect.
Maina, now a bishop at Hope International
Ministries which has been at the centre of
violent brawls in the past, instead blamed a
man called Thiong’o Kagicha for dragging his
name into the chaos that culminated with the
exhumation of 10 bodies in an abandoned
quarry earlier this week.
“I am not in control of Mungiki. I am only in
control of my destiny which is to go to heaven.
I fractured my fingers while exercising and
didn’t get medical attention for about a week
so it got swollen. Rumours about me being
hacked are, therefore, total nonsense,” said
Njenga in an exclusive interview with The
Nairobian on his sprawling Kitengela farm.
Last week, there were rumours that Maina’s
Kitengela church had been burnt down. But
when The Nairobian contacted police in the
area, they said no such thing had happened
although 10 litres of petrol (in two five-litre
containers) was found near the church;
indicating ill motives of some people to burn
down the church.
Their efforts were however thwarted by the
guards within the church compound. Spate of
killings Thirty minutes after speaking to this
writer, Maina walked into Kajiado County
Commissioner Kobia wa Kamau’s office, where
he was grilled for more than five hours by
Kobia, the county police commandant Titi
Kilonzi and his administration police
counterpart.
“The subject of our meeting today stemmed
from a story published in The Nairobian. We
were concerned whether Mungiki had started
operating in Kitengela. That’s why we
summoned everybody who was mentioned in
the story, as well as direct our officers to start
investigations so that we can know whether the
story in The Nairobian had any basis,” said
Kobia.
The county commissioner also revealed that
the recent spate of killings in Kitengela is based
on squabbles over land owned by East Africa
Portland Cement Company.
