Tuesday 26 February 2013

Where did the great grand children and children of Mau Mau go to?

Mungiki is a terrorist group and a banned criminal organization in Kenya. The name means "A united people" or "multitude" in the Kikuyu language. 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. 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. They have been newsworthy for associations with ethnic violence and anti-government resistance.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 rubbish 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. 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. 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.2007, Mungiki was rumoured to have fractured into two groups. In spite of the peace gestures of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the dramatic murders of the top Mungiki leaders continued, and police also 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) served as Mungiki’s political wing. According to relatives, Wagacha and Irungu were driving to Naivasha Prison, where Mungiki leader Maina Njenga is serving a jail term, to consult him 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. However, police spokesman Eric Kiraithe denied the claims. At least 500 bodies of suspected Mungiki members have since been discovered in thickets outside Nairobi in the past year. Police say that the recent mysterious deaths of Mungiki leaders were a result of infighting between various Mungiki factions over control of funds and differing political positions. The Mungiki leadership, however, denied the split within their ranks n recent months, media in Kenya has reported the re-emergence of the terror group Mungiki in parts of the central region. Mungiki, an exclusively Kikuyu ethnic militia, has over the years been blamed for atrocious violence and extortion in central Kenya, the Rift Valley and Nairobi. Mungiki's last known leader was Maina Njenga, who announced two years ago that he had converted to Christianity and is now seeking election as senator for Nairobi County. No one speaks for the proscribed underground militia nowadays. The group is accused of having been used by powerful politicians to conduct retaliatory attacks in Nairobi and Rift Valley during the 2007-2008 post-election violence. The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court alleges that Mungiki leaders held a meeting at State House, the president's official residence in Nairobi, to plot the attacks. Several Mungiki leaders were killed in mysterious circumstances or disappeared after the post-election violence. Four Kenyans, including Jubilee Coalition presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate William Ruto, will stand trial from April 10 at the ICC for crimes against humanity committed in the 2007-2008 polls chaos. Now, with another hotly contested election only days away on March 4, there are rising fears that Mungiki is regrouping possibly to stage another orgy of violence should their preferred candidate, Uhuru, lose the presidential contest. There are eight presidential candidates in this election. The latest opinion polls show that the contest is between Uhuru and the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) candidate Prime Minister Raila Odinga, with Raila leading by two percentage points at most. Pollsters are also predicting a second round, as neither of the two is likely to meet the high constitutional threshold for a straight win on March 4. On Wednesday, 20 February, a CORD campaign convoy was attacked by youths in Kiambu County, a Uhuru stronghold neighbouring Nairobi City, where Mungiki is believed to have reactivated its networks. The incident comes less than two weeks after gangs of youths attempted to disrupt Odinga’s campaign rallies in parts of central Kenya. On the day of the latest attack, Kenya’s Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court Dr Willy Mutunga issued a statement (see next report) stating that he had received a letter purportedly from Mungiki threatening him and High Court judges. The threat was connected to an integrity case concerning Uhuru and Ruto that was coming up for a ruling. Kenyan media has reported that, days before the letter was sent to the Chief Justice, a close ally of presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr. Kabando wa Kabando, issued a threat to the judges similar to that contained in the Mungiki letter. These recent developments have led to increased anxiety, with reports saying non-Kikuyu citizens living in central Kenya are relocating to safer places, despite repeated government assurances of increased security during the election period.

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