afrol News, 21 June - A court in Nairobi jailed the former leader of Kenya’s banned cultish sect, Mungiki, for possessing illegal guns and 5 kg of marijuana. John Kamunya better known as Maina Njena was sent to jail for five years.

In passing judgment on John Kamunya, Magistrate Rosemelle Mutoka told the court that credible witnesses from the police had “proved the case against you and I have no choice but to sentence you for the crimes committed.”

Two of the former cult leader’s wives reacted rudely to the sentence, hauling insults at the police as well as pushing journalists.

Mr Kamunya has gone through a rebirth: he is now a converted Christian. He was acquitted on charges of recruiting members of Mungiki last month. The group is notorious for cutting the throats of at least 40 people in Nairobi and Central Kenya in May.

The followers of Mungiki have been accused of asking protection fees from the people. They brutally kill anyone who defies their order.

The group derives its name from Kikuyu, Kenya’s biggest ethnic group. It has been campaigning for the practice of female circumcision.

It is believed that the sect has been bankrolled by some unscrupulous politicians to fuel instability in the run up to the December polls.

Alarmed by the killing spree of the group, Kenyan police mounted raids on the bases of Mungiki in Nairobi and Central Kenya. About a 1,000 Mungiki members were said to have been arrested during the raid.

Mungiki sect has threatened every strata of the Kenyan society. President Mwai Kibai publicly said the sect’s followers would not be spared for killing innocent people.

Their threat was also an issue of debate in parliament. Peter Munya, the deputy Internal Security Minister informed lawmakers about the government’s determination to completely wipe out the sect in the country.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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