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Kenyan government admits wiping out Mungiki not easy
The Government has admitted that it was not easy to wipe out Mungiki-like gangs, and ruled out any negotiations with sect members.
Warning that the Government would do everything at its disposal to crush the criminals, Justice minister Ms Martha Karua said: “The proscribed Mungiki sect and other terror gangs have been in existence for decades, allowing them to grow into deep rooted terror gangs.”
The minister regretted the killing of innocent Kenyans by sect members, and ruled out the possibility of talks with gang leaders.
“How do you negotiate with people who have killed others?” said Karua during a funds drive in Machakos in aid of the local ACK cathedral.
Also taking a tough line against the outlawed sect was Internal Security minister, Mr John Michuki, who scoffed at calls to open dialogue with it.
“How can we meet with ‘shadows’ as the Government outlawed sects like Mungiki, Taliban, Jeshi la Mzee among others in 2001?” Michuki, speaking at Muguru ACK Church in his constituency, posed.
But an assistant minister for Information and Communication, Mr Koigi Wamwere, was of a differing view, asking the Government to extend an olive branch to Mungiki members and give them an amnesty.
And in Murang’a, police foiled yet another suspected Mungiki oathing ceremony at Kanjari in Kandara.
Koigi wants dialogue with sect
Police acting on a tip-off on Sunday morning, they arrested seven Mungiki suspects, who were to be the host of other gang members invited from Nairobi.
Koigi called for a general pardon for members of the sect — that has killed several people, including police officers — to give them time to hand-over the weapons and dialogue with the Government.
The assistant minister even called on President Kibaki to dialogue with the dreaded sect.
Said Koigi: “Former President Moi invited these Mungiki people and dialogued with them at State House. If I was Kibaki, I will also do the same”.
The Subukia MP told police not to kill the suspected sect adherents but instead take them to court and prove their complicity.
He also advised the sect to send emissaries to the Government and present their grievances instead of harassing innocent Kenyans.
“It is not right for the Mungiki people to continue killing people. They should send their representatives to the Government and air out their grievance,” said Koigi.
Among the seven arrested in Kandara were two women, one the owner of the house where the ceremony was to take place and a suspected sect member from Nairobi.
Detectives led by the Maragua Deputy Officer Commanding Police Division, Mr Jasper Makau, said the seven were found in a house as they were feasting on roasted goat meat.
In the operation, police recovered paraphernalia associated with the sect, including 10kgs of bhang and traditional Muratina liquor.
Said Makau of the suspects behind bars, all said to be under 30 years: “The dreadlocked men and women, who are in police custody, had prepared the meal for visitors from Nairobi and we found them feasting”.
The arrests come exactly a week after police shot dead over 20 suspected Mungiki members found taking an oath in Gaite Village in Kangema, Murang’a District.
Michuki said investigations had established that the felled sect members had planned to kill 50 people.
He said investigations had revealed that each of the 50 sliced pieces of goatskin found in an oathing den signified that each of them was to kill one person.
Michuki advised parents to discourage their sons from joining criminal groupings, which the government was hunting down.
He defended the Government’s handling of the fight against insecurity, which has seen the police fell many sect adherents in recent days.
“What I am doing to maintain security is within the law and I know God has blessed it,” said the minister.
Michuki said investigations in one of the homes where a man was killed by the police during the oath-taking session, had unearthed writings to the effect that “fire cannot kill jah”.
In Machakos, the head of the Anglican Church, Bishop Benjamin Nzimbi condemned the ongoing killings of innocent Kenyans by Mungiki and other gangs.
He said the church was deeply pained by the killings, and called on the Government to act decisively against the perpetrators.
The Bishop urged politicians to engage in mature politics for the sake of peace, adding that the country needed leaders ready to work together whether they agreed or disagreed on certain issues.
“We need to pray seriously for peace to prevail in the country during this election year,” said Bishop Nzimbi and called on the flock to vote for men and women of high integrity.
The Wildlife Assistant Minister, Mr Kalembe Ndile, regretted that many innocent Kenyans lost their lives every election year as a result of politically instigated violence.
He suggested that the General Election be pushed forward to September to stop further deaths.
The Kibwezi MP condemned tribalism, and called on Kenyans to co-exist peacefully as one people.
Bishop Joseph Kanuku, of the Machakos Diocese, said the church had embarked on a vigorous civic education campaign to sensitise wananchi on the kind of leaders to elect.
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