The violent Mungiki sect is about to acquire an FM transmitter to set up a clandestine radio station with the help of a UK-based illegal arms dealer.
Investigations by the Sunday Standard reveal that all that the sect now needs is a delivery address and installation instructions to hit the airwaves.
The gadget is to be dismantled and its components packed in electronic equipment that will separately be checked out at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, on arrival.
Also on offer for the Mungiki is a range of high-powered weapons that include the deadly Israeli-made Uzi sub-machine guns, sniper rifles, silencers, and pistols. The sect is already reportedly in possession of a magazine profiling the weapons, complete with pictures of the replicas.
Payments for the transmitter, along with any other hardware the Mungiki might purchase shall be deposited in the bank account of the UK agent who is believed to be a sympathiser of the sect. The dealer is originally from Jerusalem Estate in Nairobi's Eastlands area. He is believed to have been part of the gangs based in the Gachie area on the outskirts of Nairobi before he relocated to Britain
Money isn't likely to be a problem as the Mungiki, who in recent times have been regrouping, are also allegedly being bankrolled by a clique of pro-establishment politicians, in addition to their known violent fund-raising activities.
Details of the UK agent's bank account are sent to the mobile phone number of a local Mungiki contact person by using short text message service (sms) - ostensibly to avoid detection. The transactions are based on complete trust.
Mungiki's resurgence against the background of a highly volatile political situation that has polarised the ruling National Rainbow Coalition into two viciously opposed camps is raising concern in political circles ahead of an impending pro-constitution rally next weekend.
The spontaneous re-emergence of the outlawed sect, whose members have been engaging politicians in banter, has put the government on the spot. Fears are widespread that armed adherents of the thuggish cult could be unleashed on demonstrators to intimidate pro-democracy lobbyists - and score a political point.
To announce their return, the Mungiki have recently gone into an orgy of murders that have borne all the hallmarks of revenge killings. The bloody executions, which include beheading deserters of the cult, are calculated to send a chilling message - once you're in you can't get out!
Coded
Using a code recently leaked to us by a suspected Mungiki adherent privy to the goings-on -but who, apparently repulsed by the sect's violent ways, may have already quit at the time - the Sunday Standard successfully made contact, last Thursday, with the UK-based arms dealer. To make contact, we needed a code and the dealers' UK registered mobile phone number.
The response to the initial short text message (sms) sent in Kikuyu was swift and startling. It promptly confirmed the underworld status and a cold, calculated and rather disconcerting willingness to arm dangerous outlaws operating in Kenya for a fee.
Excerpts of sms messages between the UK arms dealer and the Sunday Standard:
Nii ndi wa mbutu ya Gachie ni tuhothete mbeca cia kuigana. Turenda redio transmita twatumwo n "Roger" (This is the initial message we sent in Kikuyu using the code word "Roger")
23-Jun-04 03:38 pm
Code verified! Trust based upon business no problem. I have three types of transmitters to offer based on FM or AM modulation for short distance broadcast continued (The arms dealer's response. Interestingly, the dealer chose to text back in English even though the message was in Kikuyu)
Nitunyuite muma ndukamake. Urendia mbeca cigana? Tutume mbeca atia? Ugutuma nyamu atia, no tuerethere kunitumira. (We've been sworn to secrecy, so don't worry. How much are you selling it for? How do we send the money? How will you send the gadget?).
This is the second message we sent after having made contact. His trail went cold until the next day after another text message below, our first attempt at communicating with the dealer in English. The grammatical errors are deliberate. Whether or not this fooled the dealer into believing we were illiterate rural folk is not quite clear. But the message elicited a response)
This is "Tinkerman" wa Gachie. We send u sms yesterday u tell what's good and price, money is not problem! Trust us OK!
24-Jun-04 01:38 pm
Please send me ur e-mail and then we can go from there plus your delivery address in Nairobi, more info end of text message.
The suspected former Mungiki adherent who gave us the inside story of the sect's link to the UK arms dealer and the movement's plans to install a clandestine radio station said:
"If you have money and want to buy a gun or a silencer just text him on his mobile phone and say you are being referred to him by "Roger". He will send you a small magazine of replica guns and whichever you pick [ on] he will send you concealed in electronic goods. Then he will text you his bank details to deposit the cash."
The source gave us the arms dealer's UK mobile phone number and real names, which we withhold for legal reasons. According to the source, the Mungiki radio deal was to be finalised over a fortnight ago. To set up the station, all the Mungiki will need is the transmitter, an antenna and signal feeding equipment.
Telecommunications experts say that it is easy to import a radio transmitter and set up a clandestine radio station.
"You can acquire a transmitter simply by placing an order and supplying the manufacturer with frequency specifications," said an official with the Communications Commission of Kenya
"With that, you can easily set up a clandestine radio station, but it won't take long before we find [ you] out. In the case of the Mungiki what it means is that they (Mungiki) will use a frequency not assigned [ to] them officially. If you like, they will have to hack into someone else's frequency, which is illegal "
The only problem, according to the source, would be enforcement of the law: "Taking them off the air could pose serious difficulties."
Clandestine radio stations are often associated with designs to force political change in a country. While such stations usually sound like any other "legitimate" broadcasters, they are extralegal and deceptive in operations. They often lie about their location, sponsoring organisation, and intentions. They may also be difficult to track down because mobile broadcasting units can evade tracking devices.
Clandestine stations are often used by rebel movements or guerrillas who use propaganda to induce political change or incite revolution.
Meanwhile, intelligence sources say members of the sect have started regrouping in Nakuru, Laikipia and Nyandarua. They are reportedly holding night meetings in forests and it is believed that a Mungiki shrine has been set up deep in the Abardares, after they abandoned the original one at Thiira Village in Gituamba location of Laikipia.
Sources say the original shrine that was situated on a parcel of land belonging to a Joseph Kamunya Njenga is now considered desecrated after a police raid in March.
In Nakuru, a secret recruitment drive has been going on in the villages in Engashura, Bahati, Ndundori, Wanyororo, Mwariki and surrounding areas, police sources say.
Although the sect's renewed activities are now a matter of public knowledge, they are still reluctant to engage in open prayer sessions and meetings, preferring to maintain secret communication channels.
While their organised structures were destroyed by a crackdown soon after Narc came to power, those left behind have continued with their activities, which have heightened recently. The remnants of the sect members have assumed a siege mentality; they are ruthless to deserters.
That the sect is well and alive came out openly when a deserter, Patrick Wanyeki Thimbara, was beheaded and his body left to rot in his house in the week ending June 11 in Bahati.
Thimbara, a potato vendor from Bahati Forest who lived at Mutukanio Village, had a week earlier shaved his dreadlocks as a mark that he was parting ways with the sect.
Later, he would be summoned by two of the area's sect leaders who accompanied him to his house. He was never seen alive again.
Those who summoned him, police sources say, came from Wanyororo B Farm, one of the areas where the sect has deep roots and an organised structure.
Police sources in Nakuru said the body of the youthful man, whose father is a cook at the Jomo Kenyatta High School, was found decomposing in the house, which had been locked from inside.
"Investigators believe the murders chopped off his head, covered the body with bedsheets and blankets and left it on the table before fleeing through the window," said the source.
The body was recovered after a foul stench directed neighbours to the house. Police broke into the house to find the grisly sight.
Although they do not meet openly in Nakuru as before, members of the sect have now resorted to sign language and night meetings to pursue the revival of Mungiki.
Nakuru police chief Titus Yoma said they were investigating a possible Mungiki connection to the killing.
He said a number of people interrogated by detectives have confirmed that the deceased was an active member of the outlawed sect. However, Yoma said they had not arrested anyone in connection with the brutal killing of the youth.