MUNGIKI DESERVES NO MERCY
Since the beginning of this year it has been rare to miss news about the mungiki sect in the mainstream print and electronic media. The sect whose public image is that of dreadlocked snuff taking youth singing circumcision songs and engaging in warlike dirges, has captured the imagination of Kenyans and gained prominence in both print and electronic media. The sect was proscribed on 15th November 2002 and declared a danger to the good government of the Republic of Kenya. This action by the government does not seem to have deterred members of the sect or dampened their spirits. They have continued to carry on with their activities unabated. The mere mention of the sect evokes disgust, fear and despondence in the Capital City of Nairobi, Central Kenya and some rural and urban areas of the Rift Valley province.
But what is this sect all about? Does it deserve the prominence and the profile it is accorded by the media in this country? Does it have a justifiable ideological platform or a socio-economic or political agenda? Does it enjoy any sympathy from the general populace or the political class in Central Kenya?
The propagation of outdated cultural practices and outright criminal activities have catapulted the sect to the national limelight and made it the subject of study and comment by a number of social scholars. Mungiki started as an association of unemployed youth but has now grown into a monster which threatens the lives and livelihood of many people in Nairobi, Central Kenya ands parts of the Rift Valley. At the beginning the sect espoused what appeared to be very noble ideas and did not raise any suspicion in the eyes of the general populace. It did not seem to attract the attention of the Police and the provincial administration. In the early 1990s the sect appeared to enjoy some semblance of political support from leaders who had in the past been associated with the defunct Gikuyu, Embu and Meru Association (GEMA). There are even some politicians from regions where the sect is prevalent who made claims to suggest that the sect has similar ideologies to those of the Mau Mau. Nothing can be further from the truth. Mungiki is nothing more but a collection of idle youth and lay-a-bouts who wish to reap where they did not sow. Members of the sect use poverty, joblessness and economic disparity as justification and rationale for their existence and perpetration of illegal activities. The sect has essentially colonized parts of Nairobi City and almost all the urban centers in Central Kenya where they levy illegal taxes in the form of protection fee. The sect has specifically targeted the transport industry and uses force and threats to extort ransom in the form of a daily protection fee from matatu operators and other transporters. Many a businesspeople and budding investors in the transport sector have fallen victim to the shenanigans and machinations of the sect. They are forced to pay an entry or daily protection fee to be allowed to commence their business. The sect has assumed the character of a quasi government body with its own laws, licensing rules, taxation regime, and court system.
The activities of he sect are not essentially restricted to the urban centers. It has spread its wings in the rural areas of Central Kenya and parts of the Rift Valley where its members reign supreme. The rural population in Central Kenya may not be speaking or shouting themselves hoarse about it, but they are bearing the brunt of the illegal activities of the sect. Many a farmers, teachers, shopkeepers and other traders have been forced to abandon the comfort of their upcountry homes and relocate to urban centers for their own safety and that of their families. They have become refugees in their own localities. The sect has been sending emissaries and missives to them demanding protection fee and warning of dire consequences to any person who dares report them to law enforcement officers. The sect does not issue idle threats and those who refuse have been attacked and subjected to orgies of violence in their own homes. This has resulted in forced migration of enterprising people from their localities with the result that once vibrant villages have become pale shadows of their former self. It is not a wonder that the Kenya Police has linked the high rate of violent crime in Nairobi and Central Kenya to the activities of this sect. The sect has become parasitic and anti development. It stands for nothing of value to the rural community. It has forced people to live in fear and adopt a culture of complacency, suspicion and silence. The intimidation of the general populace by the sect in many parts of Central Kenya has killed entrepreneurship, innovation and art. Entertainment spots in the region have become gloomy and abandoned. They have lost their appeal and glamour of yesteryear. Women and girls in many villages where the sect has strong adherents do not venture out of their homes after certain hours of the day. They also walk around in fear lest they are subjected to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). This group deserves no mercy. The government must act now and should not allow the sect to continue to hold an entire community hostage. A decisive action needs to be taken now and not later. The sect is currently a band of criminals with no political ideology and agenda but if the Police and other law enforcement agencies do no take a decisive action now, it could easily mutate and transform itself into a potent political force with legitimate grievances. It could even grow into a recognized belligerent group waging war against a legitimate government. The sect’s brazen past attacks on Police stations in Murang’a and Nyahururu and the recent killing of law enforcement agents is a clear pointer and testimony that its adherents are prepared to go overboard. The recent distribution of leaflets in parts of Central Kenya urging the youth to join the sect and take up arms to fight the “enemy” is another clear indicator that its activities now transcend ordinary crime. The Police and the provincial administration must become more innovative and imaginative in dealing with this menace. The traditional crime intelligence efforts do not seem to be bearing any fruits with the sect. The security agencies must therefore adopt new approaches to detect, apprehend and prevent the crimes perpetrated by he sect. The Judiciary must also be sensitive to the interests of the general populace when determining cases relating to the activities of the sect. It is only this week that a court in Nyeri convicted 43 people for being members of the proscribed sect. Instead of striking a blow for the public, the court let the convicts off the hook with light sentences. This is the kind of action which emboldens the sect to act with impunity. The judiciary ought to appreciate the dangers posed by mungiki and other criminal gangs and compliment the efforts of the Police and other law enforcement agencies in curtailing criminal.
The political leadership in Central Kenya must also dissociate itself from the sect. The elected members of parliament (MPs) and aspirants for political seats must wake up to the reality that the activities of the sect pose a major threat to the economic, social-cultural and even political development of the region. The economic development and future prosperity of the people in the region is now under threat due to the outdated and criminal activities of the sect. The political leaders in the region should desist from making public pronouncements that create the impression in the minds of security officers that the sect ought to be handled with care or treated with kid gloves. It is time that the chickens come home to roost as far this sect is concerned.
The general populace in Central Kenya has become restless and do not seem convinced that the government is ready and willing to rout out the sect from their midst. This perceived lethargy by the law enforcement agencies have led to mass protestations by members of the general public as well as matatu owners and operators. Matatu owners and operators have suffered the most at the hands of mungiki and have on numerous occasions taken up arms to defend themselves against the sect. Their open conflict in Kiambu, Thika and Maragua Districts led to loss of life and wanton massive destruction of property in the months of March and April this year. This kind of reaction by the civil population is a serious indictment to the entire security apparatus of the state which has been made to appear impotent in the face of the sect. Some opinion leaders in parts of Central Kenya have urged members of the public to defend themselves since the Police force is incapable of defending them from mungiki. Nothing can be further from the truth. The government enjoys the monopoly of violence and has enough instruments of force to impose law and order. It can crush this sect and bring it to its knees at the snap of a finger. It is the political will and a well synchronized operational strategy to rout the sect which seems to be lacking. The
The great majority of the population in Nairobi and Central Kenya does not support this sect. It is time the political class in the region read the writing on the wall and started speaking for this silent majority. Their public pronouncements regarding this sect have been uncoordinated, confusing and contradictory. Some of the politicians have publicly defended mungiki while others have suggested that the government should negotiate with the sect. Such a suggestion is untenable and is a reflection of absurd reasoning by the political class. To negotiate with mungiki would be tantamount to elevating the sect from the level of a band of criminals into a recognized belligerent movement waging a non- international armed conflict against the state.
The presence of mungiki in Nairobi, Central Kenya and parts of the Rift Valley and the resurgence of tribal clashes in the Coast and Rift Valley Provinces is not good for the country in an election year. The perceived failure by the security forces to take a decisive action against the outlawed sect and other armed gangs has elicited numerous accusations of complicity by the sate and its agents. Wayward politicians are likely to exploit this situation to create a sense of siege and panic in the country in the run up to the elections. Such a situation could be used to disfranchise large sections of voters or intimidate and scare of political opponents. The cardinal responsibility of any government in any state is the protection of the lives and property of its citizens. The government of Kenya must discharge this responsibility to create a sense of security, peace and freedom in the entire country. Failure to do so is inexcusable since the state has adequate machinery to rout Mungiki and all other criminal gangs.
Capt. (Rtd) COLLINS WANDERI MUNYIRI, LL.B (Hons),
PGD (HRM), Nbi, L.L.M(Can) UNISA, Dip. Law, KSL, CPS (K), ACFE
Advocate, Commissioner For Oaths, Notary Public.
NAIROBI
KENYA.
1 comment:
shhhhhh!!!!!!
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