Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - “A government for peace,” read the front page article in the periodical “The Nation,” on the many-times reformed national constitution. On April 13, President Mwai Kibaki appointed opposition leader Raila Odinga the Prime Minister of the new cabinet, formed by 43 ministers. The Presidential party maintains the most important posts, such as Finance Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister, however Odinga’s party was assigned two key posts in local government and Agriculture. The cabinet also includes two Vice-Prime Ministers, one for each side.
The talks on the distribution of governmental posts have carried on for some time with much complication and have been the main cause for the retardation in the formation of the government coalition, which is one of the main points in the accord reached at the end of February, placing an end to the extremely serious political crisis that broke out following the December 27 elections.
“There have been several criticisms of the large number of ministers, however in general the public is happy about the situation, as they feared division and violence would break out once again,” a local Church source in Nairobi told Agenzia Fides. Our source has requested to remain anonymous for security reasons. “Unfortunately, violence has broken out, but for other reasons: the murder of the wife of the leader of the Mungiki sect, Maina Njenga. Right now, the streets of Nairobi are being blocked by members of the sect who refuse to allow the circulation of the ‘Matato,’ taxis used for carpooling people to their workplace.” According to sources from the press, at least 9 people have been killed in the fighting between police and members of the sect.
The body of Virginia Nyakio, wife of Maina Njenga, leader of the Mungiki and who is currently in prison, was found in the forest of Gatungu, together with the mutilated bodies of three other persons who had been kidnapped along with her on April 8.
“The Mungiki accuse the police of committing the crime, however the people say that it has been the result of internal problems of the sect. A rival group of Maina Njenga accused him of not sharing the immense wealth of the sect and thus kidnapped his wife in order to force her to hand over the properties that she administered while her husband was in jail,” says the Fides source. “For now, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to believe that the Mungiki wish to test the newly-formed government; it seems likely that the incident is mere coincidence. The new governing body is thus facing fairly serious problems: from the economy, which is suffering the damages from the events of recent months, to the violence, not only on the part of the Mungiki, that does not hesitate in killing for the chance to gain a bit of money. It is a violence that does not even respect a 77 year-old religious like Fr. Brian Thorp, a Mill Hill missionary who was murdered April 9 in the parish of Lamu, Archdiocese of Mombasa. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 14/4/2008 righe 38, parole 507)
