Gov't Launches Crackdown as the Dreaded Mungiki Group Returns to the Streets

Security authorities have launched an operation to curtail operations of the dreaded criminal group Mungiki following its resurgence in the Central Kenya region.

Police say the outlawed organization has reestablished its activities in Kirinyaga, Murang’a, Kiambu, Nyandarua and Nyeri counties.

Central Regional Coordinator Wilson Njenga says that members of the illegal sect have been threatening residents and demanding levies from construction sites, traders and Public Service Vehicle operators.

“We must protect businesses, both small and large, as well as restore law and order in this region,” Njenga says.

Njenga says the group is mainly operating in fast growing shopping centres and bus termini, where they collect daily route fees from matatus and businesses.

“They are back in termini and in the growing areas where they demand money from investors. They are expelling workers from construction sites and demanding their share of wages. We won’t condone these acts and from next month we shall be speaking a different story,” Njenga vows.

He notes that several youth in the region have been recruited into the group through coercion and false promises.

A shoot-to-kill order by the later Security Minister John Michuki in 2002 saw several members of the infamous group killed.