Maasai, Maina face off over wife’s burial

It had the making of a bloodbath. Only this time, it was former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga and his supporters who were under siege from armed Maasai morans.

The morans had surrounded Njenga’s Kitengela home to stop the burial of his wife and three other people.

It took the intervention of a contingent of about 200 police officers drawn from Isinya, Athi River, Kajiado Central and Mashuuru Districts to end the standoff. Machakos County Commander, Gedion Amala and his Kajiado counterpart, County Deputy Commander, Joel Langat oversaw the operation.

The officers forcefully sent away mourners at Maina Njenga’s Nkurunka home in Kitengela, and whisked him away, allegedly for his own safety. The police cordoned off Hope International Ministries, a church associated with the former sect leader.

Locals opposed the burial of the four who died in a shootout in May along Nyahururu-Nakuru Road, in which Maina escaped death narrowly.

“Why must these people be buried on our land? Where were they born, and why can’t their families bury them? Is it possible they were banished from their homes because they did something wrong, and now their leaders think Kitengela should be used as a dumping site?” complained an elder.

Maasai morans from various parts of the county accompanied by community elders had kept watch for three days and nights, as they fed on goat meat.  Armed with spears, machetes and swords, the morans said they were ready to die defending their land.

“We are not going to allow this to take place. How come foreigners choose our land for the burial of their dead who have been killed elsewhere,” posed a moran.

Two days after government pathologists exhumed bodies from a mass grave in an abandoned quarry, locals protested in Kitengela town over the brutal killings.

John Ole Soropay, an elder, said the community was outraged because the outlawed Mungiki sect had brought violence and trouble to the land, and cursing it.

“We have no problem with peace loving Kenyans. But for those who are their own enemies, and spill their own blood, we have no option but to ask them to leave. We fear that the Mungiki spirit will afflict our coming generations if we allow their bodies to be buried here. That is unacceptable,” said the elder.

“We saw the government dillydallying despite the 14-day ultimatum we gave them after the bodies were exhumed from our land and therefore we took matters in our own hands,” said James Turere who is the chairman of Kajiado Land Owners Association.

Turere said they are happy now that the government has stopped the burial and closed controversial church. Locals who have the full backing of area politicians have associated Hope International Ministries to the killings of the seven people found buried in a mass grave in Empakasi area in May, and three others who died after church members allegedly fought over the East African Portland land in Athi River.

The former Mungiki leader appeared shaken as police escorted him from his home. Maina has blamed it all on politics. Police assured him of security as he left his home where his first wife is buried.

“We are peacemakers and therefore cannot cause chaos,” said Maina as police led him outside his homestead.

Within the compound where preparations were on going, tents were brought down and mourners asked to leave.

The averted showdown seemed to have forced some Hope International Church members to leave Kitengela town fearing for their lives.

“I will not return to Kitengela despite the fact that I have my properties there,” said a businessman who fled the town.

The incident has also affected many residents who live in fear. A lecturer in one of the public universities told The Nairobian that he stopped building his house in the town after the incident.

An investor who has always regarded the town as a haven of peace also says he can no longer stay out late due to brutal killings in the area.

“These people (the sect) have completely spoilt this town. Everybody is living in fear,” said the industrial investor.

Most businesses that used to close late now close early for security reasons.