Why Mungiki Is The Hungry Lion Somebody Forgot To Feed

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One of the smart things those who founded Mungiki decided on was that the movement should be self-sustaining. That meant extortion mafia-style in the areas where they operated.

In fact this has been going on for a long time without anybody paying much attention. However as the number of youths in the ranks of the sect has grown, so as the appetite for cash increased. It is instructive that Mungiki operations are only to be found in Central province and Nairobi. Even close neighbors to central province where the circumstances are very similar like Meru and Embu, have no trace of Mungiki in their area.

But the really dangerous implications that Kenyans need to wake up and pay attention to is the reason for the rapid swelling in the ranks of Mungiki adherents, who are usually young people. The argument amongst the Mungiki is that they need a source of income because their land was snatched away from their fore-fathers by the mzungu. However at independence instead of this land being returned, it ended up in the hands of a new master, namely the ruling class. People like Kenya's first president, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and those thought to be close to him, grabbed land like there was no tomorrow.

The result is that today in Kenya the situation is worse than it was during colonial rule. It is whispered that on the highway between Nairobi and Nyeri all the land is mostly owned by two families—one of them is the Kenyatta family.

It is now seems that the Mungiki monster created for selfish political motives is rapidly evolving to be another Mau mau. It is also clear that getting recruits in the current desperate situation most Kenyans find themselves in is not a problem. Only last week police were desperately trying to find the source of leaflets targeting youths and urging them to rise up against the status quo.

His should be the wake up call that something drastic needs to be done about the Mungiki crisis before we have youths spread across the country looking for opportunities to separate people's heads from the rest of their bodies.

The government needs to negotiate with those behind the movement to find solutions and alternative ways for young people in this country to earn a decent living honestly. This needs to be done very urgently and before it is too late.

There are certain mostly Nairobi and Central province politicians who appear to know more than the rest of us about the Mungiki movement. One of them is Embakassi legislator David Mwenje who rose from a mere ART (African Retail Traders) shop manager to an MP mainly through the use of violent terror gangs. The other is Defence minister Njenga Karume who has suggested that the government should negotiate with the group.

Life is precious and the must now come forward and tell Kenyans what they know. Retired President Moi should also tell Kenyans how such a dangerous grouping took shape during his watch and why nothing was done to nip it in the bud then.

Alas, this being an election year, it is quite likely that nobody will bother to take any action.

This can only end in disaster because we know that the Mungiki folks have an interest in the Langata parliamentary seat. The issue is not whether they can win it or not, but the kind of violence and bloodshed that would result. Kenyans from all walks need to start putting pressure on this government to take action now before it is too late otherwise we will be forced to believe that President Kibaki's administration would prefer a very violent election to meet their sick political objectives.