By Michael Oriedo

The gang drove excitedly from Nairobi to Othaya, Nyeri as they meticulously scrutinised their flawless plan. It was their biggest assignment. Their target was millions of shillings at a bank in the town.

When the bank opened its doors at 9am that morning in 1996, the 11 men entered and posed as customers. Then their accomplice, an employee in the bank, gave the signal. Armed with guns, they ordered all customers to lie on the floor facing down. And in lightining speed, they emptied the bank’s vaults and escaped. Later, at one of the criminal’s home they shared the loot.

"We found it was Sh36million," recalls John Kingori Wachira who was one of the criminals. "Each gang member got his share depending on the role played," he adds. Among his accomplices were then Kenya’s three most wanted criminals at the time: Bernard Matheri alias Rasta, Wambugu Munyeria alias Wanugu and Anthony Ngugi Kanagi alias Wacucu.

Members of Juja Road Self-Help group cleaning Mathare, Nairobi. It was formed by John Kingori Wachira a reformed gangster. Photos Michael Oriedo/ Standard

The heist made headlines as police launched a manhunt. However, it was not until the official figure of the money stolen was released that the gang realised they had been outwitted.

"Police announced we had made away with Sh96million," recalls the now reformed King’ori. "We began looking for the bank employee and when he got wind of this, he betrayed us to the police," he recalls.

Born in 1966, King’ori says his journey into crime began when police caught him smoking bhang.

"I was then working for a textile company in Nanyuki after dropping out of school in Form Two. I was sentenced to one and a half years in prison or pay a fine of Sh5,000," he narrates.

He could not raise the fine and was jailed at Nanyuki Prison. Afterwards, he was transferred to King’ong’o Prison, Nyeri.

It is while at King’ong’o that he met Wanugu. "We were in the same cell. We became good friends and he narrated to me his ‘heroic’ exploits in crime," he says. After four months, King’ori’s parents paid the fine and he was released. Coincidentally, he says, Wanugu too was set free about that time.

"One day as I walked in Nanyuki town I bumped into him," he recalls. "I was jobless and he asked me to join his gang." They committed several crimes in Nyeri but when police began hunting for them, they fled to Nairobi.

"We lived in Dandora Estate. Our gang expanded and acquired guns, " says Kingori.

In May 1986, Kingori says a politician in Nyeri gave them a ‘contract’ to eliminate a rival. "He had promised us a fat cheque. We went to Nyeri and raided the opponent’s home but in the ensuing scuffle, I sustained injuries," he narrates. "My accomplices helped me flee."

He was later arrested and charged for the crime in May 1987. "I was charged with attempted murder, robbery with violence, possessing a firearm without a licence and causing grievous harm," says King’ori.

He was sentenced to serve three years for possessing a firearm and 15 years for causing harm. However, he says police dropped the other two charges. King’ori appealed against the sentences. In 1991, he was released from Kamiti Maximum Prison. "The judge found that there was no evidence to link me to the crimes," he says.

With no job, he reverted to crime. He joined his friend Wanugu who had expanded his gang to include Rasta and Wacucu. It is then that they executed the bank heist in Nyeri.

"Police published our pictures in the press and placed bounties on our heads," he says. This led to his arrest. Consequently, in 1998, he was charged with robbery with violence and sentenced to 40 years at Kamiti Maximum Prison. Again, Kingori says he appealed and was acquitted in 2001. He returned to Nyeri but after six months, police arrested him for murder.

"Someone had been killed in the area. I had not committed the crime but since I was a known criminal, I became the prime suspect," he says. For this crime, he was sentenced to die and incarcerated at Kingongo Prison under the tag, 3748/2001. His turn around came while serving the sentence at Kamiti. "I found Mr Ketan Somaia. I told him my life in crime and he advised me to quit," he says.

When the High Court in Nyeri set him free in September 2006, again after a successful appeal, Kingori says he was a changed man. He relocated to Nairobi’s Mathare Slums. "I had learned that one couldn’t live in conflict with the law. My friends had been felled by police bullets when I was in jail," he says.

He began collecting and disposing garbage from households in Mathare North to earn a living. When the work became overwhelming, he invited three friends to join him. He later transformed their partnership into a self-help group named Juja Road Self-Help Group. It now has 46 members engaged in various economic activities.

"Twenty-six of them are reformed criminals while the rest are community members. We clean the environment and engage in carpentry. We also manage several public toilets in the expansive slum," says Kingori.

Johnson Maundu of Fr Grol Welfare Projects, a charitable organisation that supports ex-offenders says Kingori is a reformed man. "That his colleagues trusted him with leadership of their welfare group shows he has reintegrated back to society."

Kingori regrets his life in crime. He says: "I wasted plenty of time as I hid from law enforcers. I did not gain anything. I have started my life afresh. Crime never pays."