Fears over Mungiki resurgence as two suspected members lynched in Kirinyaga
A bodyguard attached to Laikipia Governor Joshua Irungu has died by suicide inside a rental house in Nanyuki town.
What you need to know:
- The residents kicked out the sect members, terming them criminal elements who were taking away their wives and daughters as well as exploiting them, the border of Kirinyaga and Nyeri counties in revenge.
- Some of those killed were vigilantes who were leading residents in chasing away the sect members from the Kagumo area in Kirinyaga Central Constituency where they had established their operation base.
On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, angry Kirinyaga residents confronted suspected members of the outlawed Mungiki sect and hacked two of them to death.
This time the battlefield was in the expansive South Ngariama ranching scheme in Mwea Constituency.
The residents went on an orgy of destruction, causing tension in the 28,000-acre scheme with a population of more than 10,000 people.
Seven houses belonging to the suspects were set ablaze and nothing was salvaged.
Scores of other sect members among them a woman managed to escape with injuries during the afternoon fight that attracted the attention of the entire local security team.
The residents stormed into the houses of the suspects, accusing them of exploitation, and flushed them out.
They engaged the suspects in a fierce battle for hours, halting normal business in the area.
However, the more than 100 suspected sect members were overpowered and thoroughly beaten.
The residents stoned and lynched the suspects, sending a strong signal that the activities of Mungiki are not wanted in the area.
The residents then doused the houses of the suspects in petrol and set them ablaze, leaving a trail of destruction.
Police arrived shortly after the attack, restored calm, and removed the bodies to Kerugoya referral hospital mortuary.
Residents complained that the sect members raided the area last year and started taking over their pieces of land forcibly.
They are also accused of extorting money from the residents and taking away their domestic animals.
"These people have been instilling fear in us and torturing us mentally, we have said enough is enough," a resident who wished not to be named citing the sensitivity of the matter said.
Residents said the sect members were as ruthless as they even made their farming activities difficult.
“Farmers who irrigate their farms using water pumps are charged some fee. Due to the exorbitant fee demanded they have stopped farming and this is something we can't allow to continue," said Mr Mugo Kathiaku.
Mwea - East Sub-County police boss Mr Mohammed Jarso explained how the security team visited the area to assess the situation.
"It is true two people whom the residents claim to be members of Mungiki have been hacked to death and seven houses torched," said Mr Jarso.
He said the fatal clash between the residents and the suspects had been triggered by a land dispute in the scheme, adding that the matter was being investigated.
"Residents argue that a group of people who are living in the Scheme are taking over their land and as the security team we want to establish the truth of the matter," he said.
He warned the residents against taking the law into their hands, reminding them that suspects were supposed to be handed over to the police for questioning and prosecution but not to lynch them.
Mr Jarso appealed to the residents to channel their grievances to the security team instead of engaging in the shedding of blood.
"Residents should report to us if they are being mistreated by the invading group instead of causing bloody chaos, " said Mr Jarso.
He revealed that a series of security meetings will be held in the Scheme to ensure no more killings in the area.
The residents said the sect members were slowly returning to the region after they drove them out several years ago.
"We are not going to allow these criminals back into the region," another resident said.
In 2009, Kirinyaga residents engaged the sect members who had crossed over to the region from Murang'a and overpowered them.
The residents kicked out the sect members, terming them criminal elements who were taking away their wives and daughters as well as exploiting them, the border of Kirinyaga and Nyeri counties in revenge.
Some of those killed were vigilantes who were leading residents in chasing away the sect members from the Kagumo area in Kirinyaga Central Constituency where they had established their operation base.