Gatundu town. Photo by Lucy Wangai
Government has raised the red flag over attempts by the dreaded Mungiki sect to regroup in parts of the Central region by recruiting boys especially those undergoing the Kikuyu rite of passage (circumcision).
Central Regional Commissioner Mr. Wilson Njega revealed that the proscribed sect had infiltrated the Kikuyu rite of passage season to lure initiates to join the group.
He said the illegal sect which rode roughshod in the region between 2003 to 2008 before it went underground following a ruthless government crackdown was attempting to recruit circumcised boys into its ranks under duress .
Njega who was speaking Tuesday at Gatundu town where he led the residents into burning betting machines and illicit brewing apparatus pointed out that the sect which has been moribund for the last decade has found its root in the upcoming initiates and called on parents to be alert.
He however warned that the Government will not sit back and allow the resurgence of the criminal gang adding that everything possible will be done to smite the sect before they take root in the transport industry especially in the bodaboda and matatu business.
Njega who was accompanied by area administrative leaders pointed out that it has come to the attention of the government that the sect members were demanding illegal taxes from matatu operators, contractors and
other small industry baptizing it protection fee and called on chiefs and their assistants to look into the matter seriously adding that administrators who allow the sect to thrive in the areas of jurisdiction will be dealt with accordingly.
The Regional Commissioner blamed parents for abdicating their role of bringing up their kids and leaving the children in the hands of bad characters stressing that in the absence of parental guidance and care the young minds have fallen into criminal gangs and substance abuse.
He said that his administration is looking into intelligence reports that Mungiki members have been going round in Central
Kenya visiting the new initiates at their recovery dens and recruiting them into the sect in the name of young kikuyu warriors.
Njega called on parents to be on the lookout and engage their young boys so as to tame the wrong information that might have been imparted upon them during initiation.
He further revealed that in some areas like Githurai, Kikuyu, Kagumo Kagema and some other satellite centers in the Region, the dreaded
squad had taken over both Bodaboda and Matatu businesses by manning bus stops imposing illegal taxes to Matatu and Bodaboda owners.
“These fellows won’t go far, the ongoing crackdown is aimed at rooting them out of the transport industry we are following very closely and will not spare them. We now have administrators at the grass root and
we will catch up with them,”he warned.
The Commissioner said that the fight against illicit liquor, gambling and betting has yielded positive results and called on the local administrators to maintain the fight to ensure that youths who had gotten hooked to the destructive trend are rehabilitated.
By Lucy Wangai
