The life of a popular city evangelist, Lucy Wa Ngunjiri, has been turned upside down by fraudsters who are ruining her reputation, straining her marriage and ministry.
Wa Ngunjiri, who also hosts a gospel radio show at Kameme FM, took a selfie with one of the worshippers, and that marked the beginning of her woes.
A woman identified as Winnie Muthoni Munga and who claimed to reside in Canada and was a big fan of the evangelist, attended a church service at her Prayers Beyond Boundaries (PBB) Ministries in Ngara, Nairobi where she requested to have a selfie with her.
The evangelist reluctantly agreed.
That photo is now being used to swindle unsuspecting people, besides propagating claims that Wa Ngunjiri is dating Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko with whom she is living in Runda estate.
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They have also apparently used the picture to extort people even invoking the name of the couple’s son to fleece unsuspecting well-wishers.
Winnie has been using the selfie as ‘proof’ that she was close and actually lived with the family of Wa Ngunjiri. Using accomplices, Winnie has been targeting church faithful.
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The yarn they spin is that Winnie needed money to help Ngunjiri and the son who is in need of amputation. Those who have been duped have lost money, besides being threatened not to report to the authorities, or else their loved ones would be harmed.
One victim, Joyce Wairimu, Winnie’s villagemate from Gathanga in Kiambu, but who lives in the UK, said she lost over Sh1 million. At first she bought the narrative and being the evangelist’s fan, she chipped in to help the husband, the patron of PBB Ministries.
Wairimu was later threatened by the impostors. Her mother and brother were also threatened with death, forcing her to keep paying for their safety.
It wasn’t until she sent an email to Wa Ngunjiri that the scheme was uncovered. Winnie and her accomplices have since gone into hiding. Wairimu and her brother, mother and Wa Ngunjiri recorded a statement at Pangani Police Station.
Wa Ngunjiri told The Nairobian that, “Wairimu wrote an email to my ministry accusing me of neglecting my family. She also confronted me and demanded to know why I was threatening and extorting her family. It was a shocker to me. When she revealed who was feeding her with the false information, it turned out it was the stranger who sought to have a selfie with me.”
Wa Ngunjiri recalled that she reached out to Wairimu and “her family who admitted that they detested me and were considering revenge on me for bringing sorrow and anguish to their lives.”
Wa Ngunjiri decided to pay for Wairimu’s air ticket to Kenya so that she could record a statement with the police.
“All along, she though it was me and Sonko who were extorting her. The cons would fake our voices and even send her photos of dead people, warning her that they were next.
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It has emerged that the con woman is indeed in Kenya and not Canada as she purports.
Wairimu has shared with officers at the Pangani Police Station, the contacts, money transactions and audio recordings in which the Wa Ngunjiri impostor declares that: “I don’t care as long I have Sonko in my life”.
The couple said their marriage is intact, and the son who is a university student is neither sick nor about to undergo amputation as was alleged.
Wa Ngunjiri is yet to understand the motive for the heartless con and wonders whether it was meant to extort unsuspecting faithful or taint her reputation.
“I may have forgiven them, but I want the police to arrest them and the law take its course. My friends, faithful and Kenyans should be vigilant of that gang,” she warned.
