Mungiki

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Mungiki is a politico-religious group and a banned criminal organization[1] in Kenya. The name means "A united people" or "multitude" in the Kikuyu language.[2] The religion, which apparently originated in the late 1980s, is secretive and bears some similarity to mystery religions. Specifics of their origin and doctrines are unclear. What is clear is that they favor a return to indigenous African traditions and practices such as forced female genital cutting. They reject Westernisation and all things that they believe to be trappings of colonialism, including Christianity. The ideology of the group is characterised by revolutionary rhetoric, Kikuyu traditions, and a disdain for Kenyan modernization, which is seen as immoral corruption.[3] Mungiki is often referred to as Kenya’s Cosa Nostra, Yakuza, or Kenyan Mafia due to its organization.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] History

According to one of Mungiki's founders, the group began in the late 1980s as a local militia in the highlands to protect Kikuyu farmers in disputes over land with Masai and with forces loyal to the government, which was dominated by the Kalenjin tribe at the time. Mungiki arguably has its roots in discontent arising from severe unemployment and landlessness arising from Kenya's rapid population growth, with many disaffected unemployed youth attracted to an organisation giving them a sense of purpose and cultural and political identity, as well as income.

The founders supposedly modelled Mungiki on the Mau Mau fighters who fought British colonial rule. During the 1990s, the group had migrated into Nairobi with the acceptance of the government under Daniel arap Moi and began to dominate the matatu (private minibus taxi) industry. With the move to Nairobi came the development of a cell structure within the group. Each cell contains 50 members and each cell is then divided into 5 platoons. Using the matatus as a springboard, the group moved into other areas of commerce, such as garbage collection, construction, and even protection racketeering. Inevitably, the group's actions led to involvement with politicians eager for more support. In 2002, Mungiki backed losing candidates in elections and felt the wrath of the government. The group's activities became less visible although it still received revenue from protection taxes, electricity taxes and water taxes.[4] They have been newsworthy for associations with ethnic violence and anti-government resistance.

[edit] Extortion and ethnic violence

Mungiki operates most extensively in Mathare, Nairobi's second largest slum, where poverty and crime are pronounced. A recent Inter Press Service article vividly describes Mungiki operations in that slum as essentially constituting a "street gang" or a criminal network that contributes to, and feeds off of, an environment plagued by a state of perpetual security crisis. Every resident of the slum pays a variable sum of money to the organization, in exchange for protection against theft and property damage. In addition, the gang "mans" public toilets, and charges a fee for use of the facilities. Such acts of extortion, along with the general lack of effective local law enforcement, have generally enraged residents of Mathare.

More than 50 people died in 2002 in clashes involving the sect and owners of matatus in Nairobi alone. In 2002 the sect was banned and in February 2003, the sect was in the news following two days of clashes with Nairobi police which left at least two officers dead and 74 sect members in police custody. In June 2007, the Mungiki embarked upon a murderous campaign to instil fear by beheading matatu drivers, conductors, and mungiki defectors, drawing an armed response from Kenyan security forces, who stormed the Mathare area. Some 100 people died in the operation.

Mungiki has also been linked to the murder of a family in the USA in which Mrs Jane Kurua, 47 and her two daughters were killed; the case is still under investigation by the FBI.[1] On 12 July 2007 Kenyan authorities reported that Mungiki decapitated and mutilated the body of a two year old boy, possibly as part of a ritual.[5]

In November 2007, a human-rights group called the Oscar Foundation Free Legal Aid Clinic-Kenya reported that in the five years up to August, 2007, Kenyan police had killed over 8,000 people in crackdowns against the Mungiki sect, with further 4,000 people still missing. These allegations were based on interviews, autopsies, and police reports. Meanwhile, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights linked the police to the execution of 500 Mungiki over the previous five months. The police describe the reports as fictitious.[6]

Although the group had setbacks due to the police crackdown, they took advantage of the lawlessness and mayhem resulting from the disputed December 2007 presidential elections to regroup. Many Mungiki participated in targeted violence against ethnic Luos during this period.[7]

[edit] Factional Fighting

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In 2007 Mungiki was rumored to have fractured into two groups. Dramatic murders of top Mungiki leaders continued, in spite of peace gestures by Prime Minister Raila Odinga, as police denied involvement in the assassinations. The Chairman and Treasurer of the Kenya National Youth Alliance (Maina Njenga faction) were gunned down at Uplands after a car chase on the Nairobi – Naivasha highway. The Kenya National Youth Alliance (KNYA) is Mungiki’s political wing. Charles Ndung’u Wagacha and Naftali Irungu were said to be on their way to the Naivasha Prison, where Mungiki leader Maina Njenga is serving a jail term. Relatives of the two KNYA officials immediately blamed police for the killings. However, police spokesman Eric Kiraithe denied the claims. Police say that the recent mysterious deaths of Mungiki leaders are a result of infighting between various Mungiki factions over control of funds and differing political positions. The Mungiki leadership, however, denied reports of a split within their ranks. According to relatives, Wagacha and Irungu were driving to Naivasha Prison to consult with Maina Njenga over possible talks with the government, proposed by Prime Minister Odinga. The relatives said that elements in the government are using the police to ensure negotiations fail, hence the killings. At least 500 bodies of suspected Mungiki members have since discovered in thickets outside Nairobi in the past year.

[edit] DoD and NSIS involvement

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In early 2003, soon after Mwai Kibaki came into power, the government gave the military's top brass three days to explain why 10 of their Land Rovers were given to the outlawed Mungiki sect. In the lead up to the General Election, then Chief of General Staff General Joseph Kibwana was asked to investigate the scandal in person and present his findings to the Office of the President. The report was to detail the value of the vehicles, who got them and why they were disposed of. Military sources at the time said that the orders were issued by National Security minister Chris Murungaru when he met General Kibwana and other top generals at the Department of Defence headquarters in Nairobi. The issue of Land Rovers cropped up when the minister made his first familiarisation tour of the DoD, a month after Narc came to power.[citation needed]

Dr Murungaru, who as security minister was responsible for the military, reportedly expressed shock that a cartel of high-ranking officers could have been involved in subversive activities by diverting the Land Rovers to Mungiki, as detailed in an exclusive report on the scandal reported in the Daily Nation. Senior DoD officials involved in the cartel were said to have held secret talks shortly before Dr. Murungaru arrived to plan their next course of action. The report and its findings have never been made public.

the department of defense has since been converted into the ministry of defense with hon Yusuf Haji at the helm.[citation needed]

[edit] The waki report

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The commission set to investigate the post election violence has adversly mentioned the mungiki as having been used for revenge attacks. It goes ahead and states that a meeting was held in statehouse to try and coordinate the revenge on luos and kalenjins. The report states that people adversly mentioned which includes ministers, MPs and prominent businessmen should face a local judiciary or the International Court of Justice (ICJ).[citation needed]

[edit] Exile

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Many former mungiki members are believed to have fled the country seeking asylum in other countries as the sect does not allow defection. There were also many cases of forced initiation which went up significantly after the 2007 presidential elections.[who?][citation needed]

[edit] Miscellany

  • There have been unconfirmed allegations that Mungiki has links to both the old KANU government and some MPs in the current government. In fact, because of the cult's extreme secrecy, little is known about its membership or hierarchy.[8]
  • All initiates have to swear a standard oath ending with the words "May I die if I desert or reveal our secrets."[9]
  • Many members state that at the height of its influence, the group could claim as many as 500,000 members and received substantial sums of money. Many Kenyans debate whether the group's influence in Nairobi is waning or is on the rise.[10]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b BBC NEWS | Africa | Kenyan sect 'beheads' policeman
  2. ^ BBC News, "Deadly shoot-out with Kenyan sect", 5 June 2007
  3. ^ Washington Post, "Brutal Kenyan Sect Aims to Provoke Strife", 2 July 2007, page A15
  4. ^ The New York Times, "Might Drink Your Blood, but Otherwise Not Bad Guys", 20 June 2007
  5. ^ News.com.au, "Two-year-old boy beheaded for African ritual", 12 July 2007
  6. ^ BBC, "Kenyan police 'killed thousands'", 2007 Nov. 25
  7. ^ Wall Street Journal "Kenyan Gang Revives Amid Political Disarray", 2008 May 1, page A12
  8. ^ Nation Media
  9. ^ The First Post, "Meet the Mungiki, Kenya’s Cosa Nostra"
  10. ^ Washington Post, 2 July 2007, page A15

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mungiki"
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