Maina Njenga's slain wife, nephew laid to rest

LAIKIPIA COUNTY: The wife of former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga was finally laid to rest Wednesday at his Theria farm in Laikipia County, six months after she was killed.

The late Melisa Wairimu was buried alongside Maina's nephew, Dickson Mwangi.

Maina had been barred from burying them in Kitengela, Nairobi, after residents said they would not allow any person associated with the illegal sect to be interred there.

There was tight security at the funeral which was attended by thousands of people, among them the members of his Hope Ministries International church.

Hundreds of police officers were deployed to the home to deal with any security problems.

However, no ugly incident was witnessed during the event.

The officers, among them Administration and regular, remained vigilant outside the home with only plain-clothes officers inside.

They were drawn from Nyahururu and Kinamba police stations.

The speakers at the ceremony demanded to be told who killed the two alongside four others as they were travelling along the Nyahururu-Ol Kalou road in May 24, this year.

UNVEILING OFFENDERS

The speakers wondered why the State had been silent on the matter despite requests by relatives to have the perpetrators apprehended.

"It is a shame that these killings are happening while we have a Government in place. It is now six months since the two were killed and we are yet to see any arrests," said Embakasi South MP Mohamed Sumra.

When he rose to speak, Maina blamed the Government for perpetrating the killings in an incident that left him with gunshot wounds.

He alleged that prominent people in Government had hired criminals to kill them.

"We know this was the work of Government leaders so as to silence us. Some people had been paid some money to kill us so that they can enjoy the power that they are now in," he claimed.

He noted that his political affiliations had contributed to his woes.

"I know why this is happening to me, but I will continue to work for the Lord as well as my Kenyan citizens. Why do you kill a person just because you want power?" he posed.

He blamed the State for perpetrating extra-judicial killings.

Njenga said many Kenyan youths had lost their lives through killings perpetrated by politicians.

"These people are the ones to blame for the deaths. We in the rural areas are peaceful but the leaders are the ones inciting us. This should not happen in a modern society," he said.

He also urged the Government to ensure perpetrators of the killings are brought to book.