The Mungiki is an outlawed religious sect inspired by the Mau Mau rebellion of the 1950s against British colonial rule. Banned in 2002, the sect is accused of mutilating and beheading around 20 people during the recent months. Among the murdered was a constituent of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki. According to Police Chief Albert Kimanthi, leaflets circulated in the Mathare slum, which is home to some 500,000 people, threatened that more beheadings were imminent unless residents and traders pay between $1 and $3 as protection fees.
President Kibaki warned that the government would not “allow criminals to get away with wanton acts of violence.” On Thursday May 31st, the government spokesperson announced that 2,464 members of the Mungiki sect were arrested.
During a police raid on Tuesday June 5th, in which 21 people were killed after a shootout, a BBC reporter and a reporter for Reuters news agency claim to have seen a woman holding her baby clubbed in the throat by an officer and nearly 40 women and children forced to lie face down in the mud.
Mungiki leaflets accuse Kibaki’s administration of failing to honor election pledges made in 2002 to create jobs and rewrite Kenya’s constitution. Even more leaflets claim that high-level government officials, lawmakers and over 16,000 member of Kenya’s security force are members of the sect.
Many fear the sect may disrupt the December election in which current President Kibaki is expected to seek his second term.
For more information please see:
Yahoo – Kenyan president vows crackdown on sect as killing rage – 01 June 2007
Yahoo – 2,464 sect suspects arrested in Kenya – 01 June 2007
BBC – Kenya police shoot sect suspects – 07 June 2007
