THE MOST WANTED CRIMINAL

DISTURBING THE DEAD

This is the story of Pr John Kibera, who transformed from a most wanted criminal to be a pastor. A man who stood the test of true power of God in transforming the lives of once villainous reprobates to role models who the society look up to as a good example of Gods handiwork. From living off corpses to a serene tranquil life full of hopes and spreading the same hope to the society at large.

 John a strong young man on his desire to make good money quick thought outside the box. Just like all entrepreneurs, he noted a unique venture nobody was harnessing. With a daring attitude he made up his mind and gave it ago.

From his book, “The most wanted Criminal”, he narrates how for seven years he dealt in a diabolic business, from 1999. He started a coffin business, but much was beneath the coffin business than his clients could know. Under the musk of coffin trader, he would harvest coffins from grave yards.

In real sense John, a successful coffin trader did not make his own coffins. He just scouted expensive caskets. Most of them laced precious stones like gold, some imported from outside the country. Where the corpse would come from abroad with the casket, John would make sure that he be part of the mourners and those lowering the casket to the grave. This way he would do a reconnaissance on how to steal the casket as quick as possible without attracting attention.

Down in the grave he would not only make away with the casket but would also strip the corpses of the expensive suits, and other accessories they were adorned to the grave. He would literally take everything down from the grave except the body. While robbing the dead he justified his acts from the bible verses which say, everyone came to this world with nothing and will go back with nothing.

After the goods he retrieved from the grave piled, he would take the expensive suits to  Gikomba open market to trade them for a few thousands. The same to the other things he collected from the corpses. He would just trade them after his spoils had grown.

On the day when salvation knocked on his door, he had missed death by a whisker. Before cheating on death on one occasion, when he divided his crew into two separate groups. One group headed to Maragua while he led another group to Nakuru for a similar operation. In Maragua things went haywire for his crew who had attempted to steal a casket from the grave. The villagers subdued them and they were murdered mercilessly by an irate mob that sliced their throats using a power saw. His boys mentioned him as their master.

The death of his boys created public uproar and he was listed as, “The most wanted criminal”. The police was on his neck, but he had not stopped his illegal business. One fateful day, John and his four boys managed to steal a casket from the Langata cemetery but there was no vehicle to carry the casket to his store. In the wee hours a newspaper van passed by, as it stopped to drop the newspapers, the crew decided to hijack the van.

The police started to pursue the van. The flying squad caught up with them sprayed the van with bullets killing the four guys. On seeing that he was alone against the police, John Kibera decided to enter the casket, stuff his nose and ears with cotton wool and play dead.

The police managed to search the van and there was no one. They looked at the golden casket and wondered what the hell the casket was doing in the van, perhaps there was money inside the van or it was stolen because of the golden coating. The police decided to open the casket and all this time John was listening to their moves, talk and actions. They opened the casket and found a sweating dead corpse.

Despite the sweating corpse, the police were directed by their boss to take the corpse to the mortuary. Then the moment of redemption came. He knocked on the coffin until the police dropped it on the middle of the road. Then he woke up and went on his heels as the police also fled for their lives. He managed to mingle in the crowd as a woman asked what was going on. He replied he was also saving himself from what the police are fleeing.

Seeing that God had saved him from the jaws of death while in the casket, he decided to surrender. He presented himself to the police station. At the station he begged for salvation as the police got puzzled. None of them was a pastor. He told his story, why he had come to seek salvation from the police. Subsequently he was charged with disturbing the dead in a few days and was incarcerated. Latter he was freed and is now free to tell his story and sell his new best seller book.

If everybody today came to the realization of their sins and repented, the society would be at peace. This is the role of Christianity in imparting morals in the society, and as such the police and other security agents should work hand in hand with the faith based organizations. The church is critical in fostering peace, love and harmony in the society.