Nairobi, Kenya - He is the talk of Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. Ever since he converted to Christianity three weeks ago, Mr John Maina Njenga, the man police accuse of being the national chairman and spiritual leader of the outlawed Mungiki sect, has set tongues wagging in the prison.
Suspected Mungiki leader Maina Njenga under police guard.
He reportedly "saw the light" in a makeshift prayer house in the prison, watched by more than 50 inmates.
Those who were present say Mr Njenga was so touched by the sermon (delivered by a convicted criminal) that he stood up and gave a rousing testimony.
"I have accepted Jesus as my personal saviour and recognised that there is only one God capable of uniting all. No one else can do that. Traditional gods cannot," he is reported to have testified, to wild cheers from other inmates.
However, he stopped short of denouncing his link with Mungiki. The authorities consider Mr Njenga a very dangerous man. He is on trial over allegations of trafficking drugs and illegally possessing weapons.
Armed guard
At every appearance at the High Court, he is handcuffed and under armed guard. This week on Thursday as he was being led to the court's basement cells, four men tagged along, begging the warders to let them have a word with him.
Mungiki followers always attend hearings. In prison, where he is in remand, three young men said to be his bodyguards always accompany him, even to church.
Former Mungiki co-ordinator Ndura Waruinge also embraced Christianity and is now a pastor. The improvised church that Mr Njenga attends is in Block 'D', where suspects on capital offences – robbery with violence, murder, attempted robbery and treason – are held.
Over the past three weeks, Mr Njenga is reported to have attended church consistently. He has also been studying the Bible and asking many searching questions. He and nine others were arrested in February by officers from the General Service Unit at a palatial house in Kitengela. The house is still under guard.
Police allegedly found literature and paraphernalia associated with Mungiki and documents, including the constitution of the Kenya National Youth Alliance party.
In court on Wednesday and Thursday, Mr Njenga, who had been on the run for a year before his arrest, was dressed in a beige three-buttoned suit, a black shirt and striped necktie and could have been a lawyer about court.
What is curious is how Mr Njenga’s new faith is likely to influence Mungiki activities in the coming days.
Early this month, youth allied to the Kenya National Youth Alliance marched through the city streets demanding Mr Njenga’s release from prison. They said he was their leader and the only political prisoner being held by the Narc government.
At Kamiti, inmates told the Sunday Nation that Mr Njenga started showing an interest in the prison church and started attending services before confessing that he had finally found the truth. In his testimony, the long-time Mungiki leader denounced traditional gods and said there was only one God.
The incident is said to have attracted the interest of warders, but prison authorities are keeping a wary eye on Mr Njenga.
Prison sources wouldn't say whether extra security is being arranged for him. Two years ago, several former Mungiki followers who had denounced the sect for Christianity were brutally murdered. One victim had his head chopped off and dumped in the city centre.
The officer in charge of the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, Mr Peter Njuguna, confirmed that he had been informed of Mr Njenga’s "conversion". But he believes Mr Njenga could be pretending so as not to attract attention.
"He is a shrewd and cunning man who most people mistake for a slow thinker," the prison boss said.
Mr Njenga is said to be eagerly awaiting judgment in his case and baptism, which prison authorities say is conducted once a year.