Mungiki: A Perspective

Some time in 2003, the City Council of Nairobi constructed access roads into the Soweto slums of Embakasi. The slum, as is the norm in informal settlements across the country, had its vigilantes- a neighbourhood watch of some kind- who took care of anything and everything from security to conflict resolution.

The access roads were quickly blocked off by hawkers and traders, who laid their wares on each side of the road so that vehicles could no longer access the slum.

The Kenya National Youth Alliance: An Apology

The history of nations is written with the bloody point of a sword; the road to nationhood is paved with the corpses of heroes; the rivers of sovereignty, emancipation, social justice and equity burst their banks with the blood of believers. Our ancestors were martyred that we might possess this land. The war they fought, the deeds they signed, the alliances they made, all these brought us to that morning of December 12^th 1963. Uhuru! And on December 12^th 1964, the Republic of Kenya was realised. Independent, free, sovereign.

State Failure and the Economic Rise of Mungiki

Kimani S. Njoroge on the rise of Mungiki.

These groups expand quickly due to high demand for their services. Unfortunately, individual expansion and success attracts the attention of competitors attracted by the same vaccums and aware of the returns avaialble.

Read more here.

War on Mungiki

The Kenyan government promised Mungiki a no holds-barred struggle, and in the last month, the police have lived up to their word.

Every single day, tens of Kenyans are injured or killed in violence that the media attributes to the Mungiki phenomenon. In our question of the week, we ask your opinions on the violence, and on the extra-judicial response of the state. Is oath-taking in itself a reason for police executions? We also show video from some of the affected areas, with frog-marches and whole neighbourhoods of wananchi are forced to lie on their bellies as interrogations are carried out. Reminisces of the Emergency? You decide.

Watch the videos and join in on the discussion here.

Why Kenya Needs a Military Draft

Dave Nyambati proposes a compulsory military draft in Kenya to make use of the increasing number of unemployed youth.

The current work force can only absorb so many high school graduates and the jua kali opportunities are limited. This could spiral into a situation where we have whole generations who feel disenfranchised and indifferent towards the idea of a common Kenyan brotherhood. The government has to find a way to turn these unaccommodated youth into responsible adults and upstanding citizens or risk loosing control of an already fragile situation with subversive ideologies like the Mungiki's taking hold.

Read more here.

Not my brother's keeper say Kenyan MPs

Doris Sadera speaks against Kenyan Members of Parliament who have refused to speak out against Mungiki.

No one in Kenya can claim that they and their family are completely safe from Mungiki, but the leaders whose job it is to protect us are busy posturing to save their necks, both physically and politically.

Read the rest here.

How to Stop Mungiki

Beryl Ogolla wonders how the government and citizens of Kenya can stop Mungiki on its tracks. In a discussion with a friend, she proposes that they are all killed. However, when he friend tells her that war on the Mungiki is akin to starting a civil war, she begins to question her proposal.

Read more here.

All in a Dreadlock

L. Akitelek Papakemus has dreadlocks, and they might just get her into trouble. However, she would like to maintain her identity. One of the men shot allegedly belonging to the Mungiki clan had dreadlocks. Was his shooting wholly based on his hairstyle?

It’s not about conforming. It’s about surviving. Why they shot that man was not because he had done any harm, yet. It was because he simply didn’t “look right”. They shot him because he looked like a sane young man, of the age of majority, who happened to be “dressed like a Rasta”. And a Rasta might be Mungiki. And Mungiki might shoot at the police. If they had a gun that is.

Read the rest here.

turning into Mungiki

Wanjiku Micui through Kamaa narrates the birth of a Mungiki gang member.

"So it was that Kamaa found employment with Mungiki, and after that a wife and children. From his fraction of the proceeds the group had gained from the matatu routes and other businesses, he was able to gain the life his previous job had denied him. But it was not all easy on his conscience, one day they raided one big shop in the town at about 7 pm. His group raped the owner's wife and his two daughters as he watched. The town was silenced, not even the police could do anything. Then was when the rain started beating down on us."

Read more here.

Sit down with Mungiki-- video

Mungiki have been terrorizing Kenyans for the last several weeks. The murder of several citizens has got out of hand. Onyango Oloo here suggests why the government needs to sit down and engage Mungiki in dialog.

We also have three videos on the Mungiki.

Behind the beheadings in Kenya - with video

Salim Lone writes on the security failures that have engulfed the country, the extremity to which it has come and Minister Michuki's culpability for it. He also reviews the nation's responses to the tragedy that is Mungiki and argues that it is important not just to deal with the excesses of Mungiki but also its root causes.

More here.

Mungiki-- the video

Members of the Mungiki sect were back in the public arena again last week. As is often the case, their encounter with the public was not a pleasant one.

In the most recent news, the group has been in the spotlight for run-ins with other tribe based gangs, with matatu touts and with the Kenya Police. Comprising hundreds, some say up to two million youths from the Mount Kenya region, the movement claims to be against the western slant of Kenyan society. It seeks its inspiration from traditional religion and the ways of the Agikuyu ancestors.

kenyaImagine's editorial team has acquired a video showing the terror this gang has brought to wananchi. (allow time for the video to buffer)