Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - A mediation effort being carried out between Kenyan authorities and Mungiki supporters (see Fides 9/11/2006) was interrupted when two of the organization’s representatives were killed by a shooting on the highway.
On April 29, Charles Ndung’u Wagacha, acting chairman of Mungiki's political wing (Kenya National Youth Alliance), and its Treasurer Naftali Irungu were killed in broad daylight as they sped towards Naivasha Maximum Prison, by unknown gunmen who attacked their vehicle in a shooting frenzy. Local authorities claim to have begun an investigation to identify the gunmen, however the victims’ families blame the police for the incident.
The murder of two Mungiki leaders has caused panic among the sect’s members and has forced its members to abandon a reconciliatory meeting that had been planned to take place today, April 30, in Naivasha.
The meeting would have been the first formal contact between members of the sect and the Government, as proposed by Prime Minister Raila Odinga two weeks ago. According to the local press, the mediation effort was expected to be carried out by a senior Catholic bishop and a former Provincial Commissioner.
The murders of the two leaders, which is being considered a true affront, has led other members of the Mungiki leadership to suspect that the meeting was a trap, organized in order to arrest or kill the members of their delegation.
Before the meeting aborted, the first batch of the Mungiki representatives had already arrived in Naivasha town and proceeded to visit their national leader, Maina Njenga, at the Naivasha Maximum Prison. However, following the death of the two leaders, the delegation abandoned talks.
The Mungiki contradict the claims of investigators and police that say that the ongoing killings and abductions were being staged by a renegade faction, that there is an internal split in the Mungiki leadership.
The divisions revolve around the control of the sect leadership and resources after Njenga was jailed for five years over drug and firearm possession. The Mungiki, in turn, argue that the police are responsible for the death of at least 20 of their followers, who were killed in January.
The death of the chairman of the Mungiki's political wing is the second murder of a top-ranking member of the sect in recent weeks. On April 9, the mutilated lifeless bodies of Njenga’s wife, Nyakio Virginia, and her driver, George Njoroge, were found in the forest of Gatundu. Their murders have unleashed violence that has already caused the death of 14 people and has brought public transportation to a halt in various parts of the country for almost a week now (see Fides 14/4/2008). (LM) (Agenzia Fides 30/4/2008; righe 36, parole 437)
