Mungiki: Sh40 billion budget

In a new development, the outlawed Mungiki sect has now unveiled what it calls its budget for the year 2007 – 2008 which shows it intends to spend Sh40 billion as well as sponsor at least 40 MPs to parliament.

In an exclusive interview, a senior official of the seven member Mungiki team of officials, confirmed that its senior most unit referred to as ‘Commando Unit’ had met in their second largest base in Thogoto last week and agreed on the budget.

“That is partly why there was the Matatu chaos in Kiambu and Thika recently. This was to disorganize the police and security agencies to concentrate on the sideshow as we met in Thogoto,” a source explained.

In the budget, that adds up to 40 billion, the sect says that it will allocate Shs 20m to 40 aspiring candidates in various constituencies so to protect their various interests.

Among the constituencies targeted, they say are Nyandarua, Maragua, Gatundu South, Molo, Nakuru town and Manyatta in Embu.

Recruitment and training of new members to the sect is going to cost a whooping Shs 500 million, a cost that also takes into account refresher courses for existing membership the source said.

“Maintaining our members is crucial to our existence as a mass movement and we have to change strategy which includes building houses and starting small scale businesses fro our members, a process that has already began and we are going to ensure each of our members have a decent lifestyle in the next few months,” the confidential dossier leaked to us says.

The building of medium cost houses for the over 50,000 strong membership countrywide is estimated to cost another Shs500 million. Business loans and emergency interventions will consume Sh 1 billion.

“We however encourage our members to seek the services of the headquarters in Laikipia to write proposals so as to benefit from both the Youth Enterprise fund and the new Women’s fund,” says the proposal.

Modern highrise buildings are also being proposed in the plan that seeks to set up three modern headquarter buildings at Laikipia, Njiru and Thogoto.

The Laikipia building “will be our main operations base and will be up by mid-next year” our sources revealed.

Asked how they would survive the government scrutiny on the matter, our source was emphatic, “we will simply disguise the building, I cannot tell you how, but you should know some of the church buildings you see around everywhere in this country belong to us.”

The headquarters have been allocated Sh2 billion complete with furnishings and related expenditure.

Asked to confirm who will be handed the tenders to put up the buildings, the source was evasive, “we have engineers and labour is not an issue,” he said.

Other projects allocated monies include salaries for secretariat staff, formation of three political parties, election activities and coordinators of collection points, buying of electricity cables, press coordination and payment of fines in courts.

Budget details show that secretariat staff in Mungiki headquarters draws fat paychecks, with some of them earning well over Shs. 700,000 before allowances.

One of the key sources that the sect claims it will be relying on is contributions by sitting MP’s, which they say, “has been consistent and can be relied upon.”

All the unnamed 38 legislators, whom our source alleges include a number of cabinet ministers, contribute Shs. 15,000 monthly to the Mungiki kitty.

Ordinary members on their part contribute Sh.200 to the party activities, while mid-level members who form the majority offer Shs 5,000, those in special category contribute Sh 10,000 monthly.

Prestige members contribute a further Sh 100,000 per year, above the monthly contributions. The number of prestige members is 8,500.

Other sources of money include matatu routes, rent fees and land leasing, electricity and water diversions, security provisions and special contracts-described as hiring activities.

Buruburu OCPD, Joseph Migwi says the illegal Mungiki sect collects over Sh 3 million per day from Matatu’s in Nairobi, landlords and tapping of electricity and its distribution to unsuspecting customers.

However, the sect’s budget puts the figure of collections at only Sh 70 million per month, which translates to Sh 2 million a day.

The budget of the sect now awaits approval by its prestige members who will meet on an unspecified date, before setting the budget into motion.