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11 suspected Mungiki members nabbed during night ritual


Police in Kipipiri, Nyandarua County have arrested 11 suspected Mungiki adherents amid fears of resurgence of the dreaded outlawed sect.

Acting on a tip off, the officers rounded up the group members as they took part in what was suspected to be an oathing ceremony in Geita area on Thursday night.

A senior officer privy to the raid said the suspects were feasting on a goat when police pounced on them.

“We found paraphernalia which included water stored in a jerrican which they described as ‘holy.’

The officer said they are still piecing together intelligence reports to establish the motive of the ceremony.

RECRUITING MEMBERS

Area sub-county commissioner Mutuku Mwenga said investigations were underway to establish the tentacles of those arrested.

“We have stepped up our investigations and we are questioning the suspects to enable us establish their intentions,” said the administrator.

Police further said the suspects may have been in the process of recruiting new members

The arrest comes a week after Central regional coordinator Wilson Njenga directed his security team to start a major crackdown on re-emerging organized criminal gangs in the region.

During a meeting with senior police officers, county and sub-county commissioners, chiefs and their assistants at Ol Kalou Catholic hall in Nyandarua County, the administrator said criminal gangs such as Mungiki have re-emerged posing a major security threat.

OUTLAWED GANGS

Mr Njenga said the crackdown on outlawed criminal gangs will go hand in hand with the fight against illicit and second generation alcohols.

The suspects are expected to be arraigned in court after police complete their investigations.

Mungiki, a banned criminal gang in Kenya, is infamous for extortion and extreme violence. Since its emergence in the 1990s, Mungiki has evolved into one of the most feared underground criminal organizations in Kenya.

The sect was outlawed in 2002 after it was linked with a series of killings in Nairobi and other parts of the country.`

In Nakuru the group was linked to the cold blood execution of 20 people on January 6, 2003 which was followed by the execution of 27 more people in Nairobi’s Kariobangi area.

Mungiki has also been associated with some rogue politicians in the country.