Wednesday, April 25, 2012

UHURU DENIES LINK TO NJENGA GUNMAN



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THUO? Uhuru addressing the media outside the ICC court on September 26, 2011. Inset, Thuo after his ‘arrest’ at Hope International Church on Sunday.
DEPUTY Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday denied any link to the man who caused a commotion on Sunday at the Hope International Church headed by former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga.
Some Njenga supporters claimed that Joseph Njoroge Thuo travelled with Uhuru to the ICC last September during the confirmation of charges but this was denied by his Director of Communications Munyori Buku. “There is no way the DPM could have known all the people who were at The Hague. Many people travelled on their own and they were paying for themselves,” said Buku on phone.
“During a press conference, anyone can stand behind the person making the address. You don’t expect the person addressing the press to know all the people standing behind him,” said Buku. He said Thuo could not have been a bodyguard of Uhuru as they are all police officers. Buku said the drama on Sunday could have been stage managed by Njenga as part of a wider strategy to discredit the DPM. A photo of Uhuru at The Hague shows a man behind him who resembles Thuo.
Njenga claims that Thuo told him that he was privy to a plot to assassinate him but he has now reportedly told police that he believes he was set up by Njenga. On Sunday Njenga claimed that  prominent politicians from Central Kenya were behind the plot and that 18 GSU officers had been tasked to trail and execute him. But in a new twist, Thuo told police that he could have been entrapped by Njenga.
On Sunday he recorded a statement at Kasarani police station saying that he had an appointment with Njenga at 1 pm after the service. He told police that he is a Nairobi businessman with political ambitions who wants to stand in Kiambu if a new constituency is created there. He wanted to meet Njenga to seek his support.   Njoroge is the Chief Executive Officer of the Thuo Investment Company which has offices at Jubilee House Mama Ngina Street in Nairobi.
Njoroge told the police that he had known Njenga for a long time and the former Mungiki leader knew he was licensed to carry a gun. His firearm serial number is A994524 issued on December 19, 2011. The man told police that he initially met Francis Mwangi, a personal assistant to Njenga, who confirmed the meeting.
Upon arrival at the church, Thuo was taken to Njenga. Shortly afterwards, youths stormed in the room saying that he had a gun and was planning to kill the former Mungiki leader. They had apparently found the gun in his parked car. He said the youths started beating up Thuo before locking him in another small room. After 20 minutes in the room, the youths brought in four more men and started also beating them up.
The four men later turned out to be CID officers who had been dispatched from Kasarani after a caller informed the police station that an armed man was at Njenga’s church.
Police sources privately told the Star that the officers were lured to the church by persons who wanted to advance themselves politically. Police bosses are said to be furious at the way their men were treated.
Njenga was yesterday scheduled to record a statement  at CID headquarters but declined to do so. His supporters said he had information that the police wanted to arrest him. He is expected to record a statement this morning. A network of youths resembling the former proscribed Mungiki sect is still in existence in Nairobi, Central province and parts of Rift Valley.
Most of the youths who commanded gangs in the heyday of Mungiki still coordinate their groups but have stopped extorting money from ordinary people in towns and villages. They have also been instructed to attend church services. They still collect money from matatus as well as church offerings.
Some youths who attended the Limuru 2 B meeting last week told the Star that they had firm instructions from the “chairman” not to engage in violence even if provoked by the police.
The youths claimed that  they had travelled to Limuru from as far away as Laikipia and Nakuru because of their loyalty to the “chairman." “We are not being paid to attend the meeting. We were told the one who can manage to come he comes, and the one who cannot, stays at home. The only thing provided was transport,” said one youth. “If we receive instructions to fight back the police, we will do exactly that,” said another youth during the botched Limuru 2B conference. Njenga is said to be plotting to emerge as the de facto leader of Central Kenya, a position presently occupied by Uhuru.
In October 2010, Njenga formed the Hope International church and declared that he wanted to convert his Mungiki followers to the true gospel. He accused police of being the main beneficiaries of the cash collected by Mungiki.
He was arrested in February 2006 in a dawn raid at his Ngong home. In June 2007 he was sentenced to five years in prison, after having been found guilty of being in possession of an illegal firearm and marijuana. In June 2008, his wife Virginia Nyakio was abducted and murdered in mysterious circumstances. 
On coming out of jail in October 2009, Njenga went to Bishop Margaret Wanjiru's Jesus Is Alive Ministries, accepted the Lord and was baptized. He quit Bishop Wanjiru's church after they disagreed on the new constitution. Wanjiru was campaigning for its rejection while Njenga was in the Yes camp.

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