Inside Kenya’s Lethal Nexus: Mungiki’s Grip on Identity, Politics, and Crime
Mungiki originated during the late 1980s in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya, which was characterized by ongoing tensions regarding land ownership and rights. These tensions primarily involved the indigenous majority, predominantly the Kalenjin, and newcomers, the Kikuyu.
In the early 1990s, the initial instance of politically motivated inter-ethnic strife aimed at reducing Kikuyu’s impact in regional politics unfolded. Mungiki materialized as a movement of Kikuyu youth, advocating for marginalized groups such as women, migrants, and youth without land.
During this period, the coalition also resisted the authoritative and dishonest administration led by Daniel Arap Moi, who belonged to the Kalenjin ethnic group.
Eventually, Moi incorporated Mungiki factions into his political strategy, employing them in electoral politics. He set a precedent as the initial among a succession of influential politicians to engage in such collaboration.
The politics of ethnicity laid the groundwork for Mungiki.
During the parliamentary and presidential elections of 1997, 2002, and 2007, prominent political figures rallied aggressive youth militias to endorse their campaigns.
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Following the tumultuous 2007 presidential elections, the Party of National Unity led by the triumphant Mwai Kibaki, predominantly composed of Kikuyu members, organized Kikuyu youth militia in response to the gangs deployed by the opposing Orange Democratic Movement. The ensuing violence prominently involved the Mungiki group.
As the millennium approached, Mungiki transformed into predominantly an urban phenomenon, thriving in an environment shaped by poverty, widespread youth unemployment, and political disillusionment.
Young men, especially, saw themselves as a generation with limited prospects, feeling that they had minimal chances to build successful adult lives with the financial stability required to support a family.
The state and local authorities overlooked urban informal settlements, leaving a void that was filled by youth-based groups. In the shantytowns of Nairobi, Mungiki activists and militia vied for influence alongside other militias such as Kamjesh and the Taliban in Mathare Valley.
Similar to Mungiki, they participated in the conflict surrounding public transportation, the delivery of essential utilities such as electricity, and extorting protection payments from businesses. However, they also played a part in promoting welfare, generating employment, and ensuring security.
Mungiki leaders claim a membership ranging from 1.5 million to 4 million, but these numbers are likely inflated. The actual active membership is more probable to be in the thousands.
What are the group’s practices and beliefs?
Mungiki originates from the convergence of generation, ethnicity, religion, and social class. Its adherents are typically youthful, economically disadvantaged, and primarily belonging to the Kikuyu community, which is the largest ethnic group in Kenya.
Mungiki predominantly operates in urban communities, where it engages in a mix of vigilante, welfare, cultural, and criminal pursuits. The group employs force to establish and uphold its authority.
Over the years, it has developed fluctuating and tenuous connections with political parties and leaders. Additionally, it has actively pursued, secured, and subsequently lost its registration as a political party, known as the National Youth Alliance.
Mungiki can be characterized as a contemporary social movement with roots in Kenya’s pre-colonial and colonial past. It draws inspiration from the historical beliefs and practices of that time, deriving its principles from the Kikuyu religion and cosmology.
A key tradition among the Kikuyu people involved the passing of authority from one group of men to the succeeding generation, a ceremony referred to as “ituika,” occurring approximately every 30 to 40 years.
One practice involved the ceremonial circumcision of both men and women as they entered adolescence, serving as a rite of passage into adulthood. Another custom involved members of the group taking a solemn oath of loyalty, creating a lifelong bond of secrecy among them.
The principles that guided these customs persisted throughout Kenya’s resistance against colonial rule in the 1940s and 1950s, particularly in the Mau Mau liberation movement, predominantly led by the Kikuyu community.
Despite undergoing modifications and extensions, these principles remain central to Mungiki’s customs and convictions. Mungiki’s overarching goals encompass youth empowerment, the reinstatement of traditional values, particularly distinct gender roles, the combat against corruption, and the promotion of reforms aiming at establishing an egalitarian society where members support one another.
Mungiki manifests in various forms, functioning as a youth organization that has been labeled as a sect, gang, or militia. Despite its efforts to establish itself as a legitimate political party, its diverse appearances and tenacity have sustained its existence for over three decades.
Why was it banned?
Mungiki emerges from the tumultuous backdrop of Kenya’s history marked by colonial and post-colonial violence. Over time, the group has consistently employed violent methods for both recruiting and retaining its members.
During the early 2000s, it escalated its aggression, employing acts of terror such as killing defectors, administering fatal punishments to those who resisted paying protection money, and engaging in brutal conflicts with other militia-style groups.
Many of its operations involve illegal activities, such as coercing payments from households and businesses, offering bribes, issuing threats to gain control in the informal commuter transport sector, and resorting to violence, including murder and mutilation, to accomplish its objectives.
On a political scale, leaders at both the national and local levels might perceive the movement’s enduring popularity as a challenge to stability and their political control.
Though banned, it hasn’t gone away, has it?
The evolution of the movement has seen various changes. Following its prohibition in the early 2000s, Maina Njenga, its leader, faced imprisonment.
In 2006, he publicly announced his embrace of Christianity, and upon his release in 2009, he proclaimed the end of the movement. Despite this, the movement occasionally reemerges, albeit with considerably less intensity than during its peak.
Many of its members have been killed or imprisoned.
Mungiki refuses to die because, on the positive side, it rests on the cultural and religious traditions that are still alive in Kenya. It has a moral appeal to young men and women for stressing “clean living”, without loose sex and alcohol. It expresses young people’s efforts to be political actors.
Negatively speaking, the majority of young Kenyans continue to experience unchanged basic living conditions, with no shift of power to the youth. Salaried employment opportunities are scarce, and poverty remains pervasive. The political landscape in Kenya is marked by violence, predominantly controlled by elderly and entitled men, riddled with distrust and corruption.
Inside Kenya’s Lethal Nexus: Mungiki’s Grip on Identity, Politics, and Crime