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Mungiki: Kibaki`s worst nightmare?
2007-06-17 09:45:20
By Francis Muguro
Mungiki, a proscribed religious-political group has become the worst security nightmare for the government.
Recent days have seen the group transform from a good harmless social group with a passion for traditions to a very dangerous, brutal, organized crime gang.
As you read this missive, there is a battle going on in the slums of Nairobi and some villages in rural areas between the Mungiki members and the police on the other hand which so far has claimed almost 36 lives.
The now so called Mungiki deaths, since the organization started in 1997 in Central Province, are said to be over 200.
The outlawed outfit became active and widely known in 2000 when it got onto loggerheads with the government for administering oaths to new recruits.
The group discrediting Christianity and urging members to pray facing Mount Kenya, endeared itself to Muslims and got into association with some Muslim clerics before later transforming itself into a very violent group.
Due to its rising popularity, politicians soon started cashing in on it. They donated money and material goods to the group.
By 2002, the group had turned political. The government of the day used them as a campaign tool for its party.
The group itself, claiming to have a membership of three million could form a voting block that would deliver important votes to the then government`s presidential candidate.
In fact the group was so integrated in the political intricacies that after elections, several military land rovers were found in the organizations\' possession.
After getting such high level association, and after the candidate they campaigned for lost in the election, where was the group to get such money as was dished out to them by politicians?
The group forced its way to matatu termini manning them at a fee. This with time has become the worst extortion group here. They fix the amount every matatu is to pay per route very day.
The organization is such bold as to set parallel legal system where defaulters are charged. Penalties include paying hefty fines, detention for several days, physical beating and torture and even death.
The group does not only target matatu operators but it also extorts money from business people in the markets.
In some villages and especially in the vast slum areas in Nairobi, the group collects protection money from each household. In the rural areas especially in Murang`a and Maragua Districts where the group is believed to have started, members also demand part of the bridal wealth paid to the girl\'s family. Failure to comply in either of the cases has left not only some dead or injured but many houses and vehicles burnt as a lesson to future defaulters.
Intimidation is the group`s best weapon. Once one joins the group withdrawal is not allowed; defectors are killed.
Members have also persistently tried to show the public that they are simply indomitable. It\'s feared that the claim by the group that it has recruited politicians, professionals in almost every field and worst of all the armed forces, could be true.
Many culprits of extortion have reported to the police only for the gang to later laugh at them ridiculing them that reporting them to police can not help.
Other victims have reported to have been advised by police to pay up thousands of shillings as ransom for their kidnapped kids. This is the newest extortion method the group has resulted to.
Capturing especially children from well to do families and threatening to behead them.
The inhuman acts done by the group just shows how degenerate they themselves are and how false the group was to convince the people that all it wanted was to convert people back to traditions.
They kill their perceived enemies and many innocent people just to pass across the message that they are in charge. With ease of acquisition of guns, the group has turned more military, engaging police in gun battles and killing several of them.
They have severally attacked police officers to rescue their own while being escorted to or from courts, as well as attacking police stations to set free their colleagues.
Since the government has been steadfast in fighting the group, they have recently engaged in publishing leaflets requesting the people to rise and fight the government as well as inviting new recruits.
The government is striving to ensure safety for the people, but dealing with Mungiki has proved a very challenging affair especially this election year when its accounts are likely to soar courtesy of villain politicians.
The penalties meted by the courts for such proscribed group are not harsh enough to deter adherents. Even the attempt to prove that one is an adherent is a big challenge since there is documentation in the group.
Many culprits often go out free soon after being arrested for lack of evidence. Well, nothing lasts forever, but the speedy fall of this group is the silent wish and prayer in the lips of majority here.
Despite the impressive record of achievements by Kibaki`s government the last four years, in the countdown to the general elections, Mungiki factor maybe the deciding factor whether the president will make it for a second term or not.
Fmuguro@gmail.com
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