There Are Attempts To Revive Outlawed Mungiki Sect, Says MP Jayne Kihara

A group of female Mt. Kenya MPs has raised alarm about the revival of the outlawed Mungiki sect in the region.

The female legislators, led by Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara, sent a statement to newsrooms condemning plans to recreate the Mungiki sect, which terrorized Mt. Kenya people and Kenyans in general in the early 2000s.

"As mothers, we remember the terror, atrocities and chilling experiences that Mungiki unleashed within Central Kenya, we remember the fear, the terror, we remember the pain," the members of parliament said in a joint statement.

"During that time Mungiki perpetrated many atrocities against the people including; forced circumcision and raping of women, intimidation and extortion in the public transport, intimidation and extortion of construction businesses, intimidation and imposition of illegal taxes on farmers and households, mindless violence and killings."

Following that, the MPs requested Interior CS Prof. Kithure Kindiki to take prompt steps to prevent the resurgence of the banned Mungiki sect.

"No political agenda is worth the pain Mungiki will cause our people." "We know how many people were killed in the 2003/4 crackdown, and we cannot sit back and watch this happen again," the MPs added.

"We are calling on all Kenyans to join us in loudly condemning these groups and those behind them."

These concerns come barely a week after the group's former leader disputed claims of the group being active, saying that the members lead a peaceful life.

“I don’t think that Mungiki was very violent. It was the police. Like in the case of Maandamano, if the police would not come to disrupt Maandamano, you would not have chaos. Even in those days, it was the police causing chaos every time, then blamed it on the common mwananchi,” Maina stated.

“When you hear things happening in Mt. Kenya, it was not the youth who were doing those things, it was the government of that day…like the disappearance of the people, harassment, the youth (Mungiki) are very harmless people who cannot even kill a fly,” he added.