Leaders claim plot to kill youths

• Clerics from Central say recent murder of sect spokesman was testimony to the plan

Church leaders from Central Province are alleging a plot to kill youths from the region under the pretext of fighting Mungiki.

The leaders under the banner of Gema Cultural Association cited the recent killing of Mungiki spokesman Njuguna Gitau Njuguna and alleged threats to the group’s leader Maina Njenga besides other past murders as testimony to this.

Chairman of the association Lawi Imathiu and his assistant Peter Njenga said those responsible should be punished.

Life is in danger

“We are saddened by the recent murder of Mr Gitau on the streets of Nairobi,” the statement made after a six-hour meeting at Jacaranda Hotel read.

Former Cabinet minister and founder of Gema, Njenga Karume, also attended the meeting alongside 16 bishops and other clergy from Central Province.
Mr Gitau was shot dead on Friday last week by an unknown people inside a mobile phone shop in the city’s Luthuli Avenue.

His death came a day after Mungiki leader Mr Njenga, recently released from jail, said his life was in danger.

On Tuesday, the Gema leaders asked the government to provide Mr Njenga with adequate security. They also called for restraint from members of the outlawed sect who are believed to be planning a revenge attacks.

In Nyeri, leaflets believed to have been authored by the outlawed Mungiki sect are being circulated warning of a plan by the government to kill area youths.

The leaflets claim that 11,000 youths from Central, Nairobi and Rift Valley provinces have been killed by a special police squad.

Similar leaflets

Central Provincial police officer John M’Mbijjiwe said they were tracking down the authors. Meanwhile, police in Naivasha are also investigating similar leaflets circulated in the town.

“We are trying to establish who the authors are and the origin,” said Naivasha head of police, Joseck Nasio.

Similar leaflets were found in Nairobi.

And in Nairobi, Housing assistant minister Bishop Margaret Wanjiru has recorded a statement at Gigiri police station alleging that her life was in danger.

The Starehe legislator said some people in a GK vehicle have been trailing her. She said they talked to a guard at her home before driving off.

Bishop Wanjiru said she suspected that she was being followed because of Mungiki youth who joined the church she heads after their leader did.

However, Gigiri OCPD David Kerina disputed the claims saying the assistant minister is guarded by an AP and may have seen a police vehicle checking on the officer.

The incident comes hardly a week after the bishop told her congregation at the Jesus Is Alive Ministry in the city centre that she advised Maina Njenga to lie low.

By Walter Menya, John Njagi, Macharia Mwangi and Dominic Wabala