Looking back at the regretful and sad endings of former major criminals the likes of Peter Mwea Wakinyonga, Gerald Wambugu Wanugu, Edward Shimoli alias the Jackal, and Simon Matheri, I am confident to state that it indeed pays nothing to engage in any form of criminal activities. In as much as things may appear good and sweet at the start of the journey to criminality when one decides to engage in a robbery with violence and brutalizing people, the end always proves that crime is indeed evil.
I remember Edward Shimoli a cunning criminal who made things difficult to Kenyan cops. He was nicknamed after ‘Carlos the Jackal’, the terrorist from Venezuela who managed to escape from the police numerous times. He was reportedly involved in 88 rape incidents and the murder of 14 people. Shimoli is also famously known for escaping jail more than four times and took police 10 years to get him back to prison. In 1996, Shimoli was rescued by his gang members from a maximum-security prison as he awaited his death sentence. He was shot with five others along Kangundo road in 2007.
It is obvious that bad company ruins good morals and to attest to this, many youths who join bad groups always end in drug abuse, criminal gangs, and terrorism.
The famous John Kiriamiti was regarded as a cunning and calculating armed robber who gave Kenyan police officers sleepless nights. He was involved in dozens of armed robberies mostly targeting banks in the late sixties and was jailed for 20 years in 1971 for his crimes. Kiriamiti was detained in 1986 after being accused of being part of those planning to dethrone the then President Moi. In prison, Kiriamiti wrote several books one being ‘My Life in Crime’ which was the most outstanding book. Kiriamiti was released 13 years later for portraying good conduct.
Philip Onyancha was at one time Kenya's most brutal if not terrifying serial killer in history. Onyancha is said to have killed and drunk the blood of 17 women after in what he claimed was a satanic ritual. Onyancha mainly targeted prostitutes and street children and was arrested and now serves time in prison.
Bernard Matheri aka Rasta in the criminal world was regarded as a no-nonsense criminal who hated opposition from his band of followers. Rasta is said to have executed fellow criminals who he regarded as a threat to his activities as well as police informers. Rasta was killed in a hail of bullets by police officers who had been tracking him in 1997. His gang consisted of four. Two years later; his lover was arrested and jailed for seven years in prison when a robbery attempt on an armoured vehicle went wrong. The other member was John Kibera, the famous coffin robber later got saved after escaping death. The last member, Timothy Ndegwa, is currently serving a life sentence at Kamiti Maximum Prison.
Anthony Ngugi Kanagi alias Wacucu was part of a gang that reigned supreme for almost a decade in the 80s to the 90s. He committed hundreds of armed robberies, bank heists, and murders. Initially a matatu driver, he skillfully engaged the police in exceptional chases though they finally caught up with him in 1996 in Rongai in Kajiado County.
The most recent many can remember was Simon Matheri Ikere. Matheri was arrested and jailed for arson for five years at Kamiti Prison. He is believed to have shot and killed prominent African AIDS researcher, Job Bwayo; Lois Anderson, a Presbyterian missionary, and her daughter Zelda White, the wife of a U.S. embassy employee, Carol Briggs, a missionary volunteer. He was killed in a police swoop by over 100 police officers who, after riddling his body with bullets forgot to remove handcuffs from his hands. His death made it to national headlines in 2007.
With all these criminal accounts in mind, crime has nothing good to offer in the end. The famous criminals managed to make things hard for cops at the start but this was short-lived as one either ended up getting shot to death, serving long term imprisonment while others like John Kiriamiti gave up, regretted and ended up using their stories to warn people against crime.
Youth ought to shun crime and work for everything they desire to achieve in life. It is obvious that bad company ruins good morals and to attest to this, many youths who join bad groups always end in drug abuse, criminal gangs, and terrorism.