COMMENTARY: THE WALKING DEAD
Former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga blessing his worshippers during a Sunday Service at Hope International Church, Nairobi. Although the life of violence is now behind them, these young men are not at peace. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- No official report was given on the possible backstory, and it was only until relatives positively identified some of the bodies as those of Maina Njenga’s church members and former Mungiki that the smelly thing hit the fan.
- Although the life of violence is now behind them, these young men are not at peace.
- Anyone who broke the oath and deserted the brotherhood is a dead man walking.
FOR THREE days after the mass grave in Machakos County was discovered, police said little about the matter, and when they spoke it was mostly in hushed tones at the quarry site.
No official report was given on the possible backstory, and it was only until relatives positively identified some of the bodies as those of Maina Njenga’s church members and former Mungiki that the smelly thing hit the fan.
On May 20, four days after the discovery of the bodies, the police, in what sounded like a hurriedly crafted statement, reported that Maina Njenga’s followers, drawn from across Central Kenya — with some coming from as far as Mt Kenya, Nyeri, Laikipia and Nakuru — were fighting with the supporters of a former Njenga associate, Thiong’o Kigicha.
The report gave scanty details on the recent killings and the connection to the Mungiki in-fighting, and, since I was on the story, I looked for former sect members who were among those who followed Maina Njenga into the water at Jesus Is Alive Ministries five years ago.
Although the life of violence is now behind them, these young men are not at peace.
The oath they took all those years ago demanded that they remain part of the large, venomous family, that they shun their Christian ways.
But they went ahead and got baptised, so they are forced to walk around looking over their shoulders every day.
Like the rest of us, they know that they only have one life to live, but, unlike the rest of us, they have a fairly good idea of how they will exit this place, and maybe even the faces of their killers.
Many former members suspect, and even admit, that they will most likely die at the hands of former friends and blood-brothers.
Finding it futile to turn to the police, some have appealed to Maina Njenga for protection, and they are now angry that the church leader seems to be doing little about the issue apart from clearing his name in the media.
Others suspect that the leader is in collusion with the perpetrators of the recent land clashes.
The speculations are many, as many as the number of people conjecturing; but the one thing that remains clear is the fog surrounding life as an ex-Mungiki.
Anyone who broke the oath and deserted the brotherhood is a dead man walking.
