Rasta loved women, guns and rogue cops in equal measure

By Standard Reporter

Sometime in 1996, Bernard Matheri Thuo alias ‘Rasta’ gave his new girlfriend an AK47 as a gift because he thought chocolate and flowers had become too common. The gift was not a surprise for a man of Rasta’s stature in crime.

Rasta loved guns. He lived, loved and killed by them. A renown sharpshooter, he was said to have honed his shooting skills by having scampering chicken and human beings as targets for practice.

In August 1995, the police named him alongside Antony Ngugi Kanagi, alias Wacucu, and Gerald Wambugu Munyeria, alias Wanugu, as top criminals. A Sh100,000 price tag was placed on their heads.

When a special squad identified as Alpha Romeo was formed on January 1, 1996, to hunt down the trio, it took the elite unit only three days to nail Wacucu.

Six months later on June 27, 1996, David Seronei — codenamed Alpha Two — gunned down the feared Wanugu in Nakuru’s Kabatini Shopping Centre.

However, Rasta remained elusive, taking the police more than a year to gun down.

His killing in September 1997 ended the reign of a criminal the police described as a good schemer and planner, slightly different from his much-feared predecessors Wanugu and Wacucu, who were said to be violent.

Interviews with members of the unit that hunted him down say Rasta’s criminal activities lasted long because of one item he clearly took extra care of — rogue cops. He paid them handsomely even for worthless piece of information such as officer X was bedding officer Y.

“He knew every step. He was always ahead of us,” recalls Seronei, who shot him down.

The list of officers in Rasta’s payroll ranged from junior to senior police officers at Kiria-ini Police Station, which had a short-cut route to his estate located near River Thuruthuru.

Seronei was the head of Alpha Romeo, a small and noble elite unit in the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) made up of the best from the dreaded Flying Squad formed on January 1, 1996, to kill Kenya’s most wanted criminals.

However, after Wanugu’s killing, the squad’s mission went haywire, with some officers breaking rules ofengagement. Informers were intentionally shot, criminals executed even in instances where they put minimum resistance and officers who went after the bad guys were tortured and executed.

Intelligence briefs were leaked to the likes of Rasta, thereby putting the lives of civilians and law enforcers on the line.

“Criminals knew all our tricks and we were making little progress on averting crimes. We had to do something,” Seronei says.

Woman sharpshooter

In early 1996, Seronei made the step of taking the crime fight “beyond the rules of the police book.”

“I started looking for ladies to join the crime fight. In Juja Police Station, I met a police lady known as Amina Chute, a Borana, and asked her if she wanted to join our squad,” he said.

The request was granted immediately and he trained Amina on how to hunt down dangerous criminals. “We developed a bond, more of a marriage,” says Seronei. “We only shared sensitive information among ourselves and the top man.”

The working couple immediately started hunting down Rasta, who loved to travel in Mercedes Benz and BMW cars and matatus.

“I befriended matatu drivers in various regions and told them if they were caught breaking traffic rules, they should ask for Seronei. In turn they paid back by providing information on criminals,” he said, adding because of the sensitive nature of his work, he was allowed certain privileges. “With matatu drivers, I had informers across the entire country.”

A few weeks later, they were informed that Rasta was in Githurai 45. They lay in wait for him, but the gangster failed to turn up after rogue cops tipped him.

Days later, there was a robbery in a Nairobi downtown supermarket, involving eight criminals in two cars believed to be under Rasta’s command.

“We waited for them on Thika Road at the GSU Roundabout,” he narrates. “We asked the officers to block the Kasarani roundabout. But when the gangsters reached Safari Park Hotel, the first car took a left turn.  “There was a car in front of us and one behind… we could not escape as they had noticed us. We had to fight.

“I held the steering wheel, rolled on the ground and shot at the vehicle behind us. They came out and a shootout ensued. Three criminals died while I was shot in the hips and Amina in the hand. We recovered an AK47”.

DANGEROUS MISSION

Seronei identifies that day as the first day he died. “I felt let down when I discovered Rasta was not among the dead criminals,” he says.

To avenge the killing of his men, days later Rasta attacked the GSU headquarters and threw a grenade, injuring some officers.

“We started chasing him around bars in various towns but still never caught up with him,” says Seronei.

After a while, the squad was tipped that Rasta was staying at Umoja Innercore, near Umoja Primary school. Amina went and rented a house near the area and moved in. During one observation duty, they worked for 72 hours without moving out of the house.

They were informed that Rasta had moved to an unfinished flat in Kayole, and Amina moved and rented a room next to Rasta’s.

During a raid went awry, Rasta offloaded an entire magazine of an AK47 rifle on Senior Sergeant Mutemi, of the Flying Squad, who knocked on his door seeking that he surrenders.

Over 50 officers involved in the raid fled for their dear lives. The gangster then walked out of the house with his gun as if nothing had happened.

Days later, police rushed to his home in Kiria-Ini to rescue his workers, a mother and her children, that he had kidnapped and tortured for stealing Sh200 from his house.

What gave Rasta away was tobacco. “He felt sick every time he did not smoke,” recalls Seronei. “We started monitoring places where tobacco was being sold.”

One day, Amina noticed Rasta’s sister — who had gone to buy tobacco. She delivered the tobacco to her mother’s goat pen, where Rasta was hiding.

Seronei says after the discovery of his hiding place, he sought the help of the then CID Director Noah arap Too. “I requested for police dogs, two vehicles of full of Flying Squad men and one GSU Recce Company.”

None of the officers was told what the mission was about. The seniors did not want to scare them off.

“Everything was supposed to be discreet and fast. We were not only dealing with a Most Wanted criminal but one of the best sharpshooters armed with informers everywhere,” recalls Seronei.

And even before they could cover the goat pen, Rasta started shooting at the men. The leader of the GSU Recce Company, Paul Samoei, was the first to be downed by bullets.

Hail of bullets

Seronei says they shot, shot and shot. Dogs ran away for their dear lives, tethered goats cut the ropes lose escaping to the forest, and the trees wailed to the sound of the endless shooting.

The hail of bullets hit Rasta, who fell down bleeding. In his house, he had left a note stating his last wish, “I can’t surrender.”

While being evacuated, Rasta died before he could fulfil his promise of writing the list of rogue cops on his payroll. The following day, Seronei was promoted to Chief Inspector of Police and received a silver star.

Amina was made a corporal while the late Senior Sergeant Rajab was feted with an Order of Grand Warrior (OGW) state commendation.

After the assassination attempt on Seronei, Amina’s family took her to exile. She stays in the UK and US. Together with her family, Amina has promised to assist treat Seronei.