Cultism laced with archaic Gikuyu customs spurs FGM

A secretive cultish group has been linked to the rising cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) that  is slowly creeping back in central Kenya, decades after most people abandoned the vice.

Like its name, Gwata Ndai (loosely translated into Solve the Riddle), the group’s formation and activities are riddled by mystery and secrecy. For over two years, the group—known to identify as a cultural entity—has been linked with archaic Gikuyu practices, including FGM.

It is also known to identify under other names such as Muhiriga Kenda Muiyuru and has also been linked to the outlawed Mungiki sect by security agencies.

Gwata Ndai has roots in Kiambu, Murang’a and Nyeri but is predominantly based in Githunguri and Ndumberi in Kiambu County. The group thrives on secrecy but is known to hold meetings under the cover of traditional, religious and cultural practices. Previously, they were known to hold public gatherings at Hannah Gardens in Ndumberi but later went underground following a public outcry over their controversial teachings and activities.

They are easily identified by their green, black and white regalia—usually cotton thread knit.

The group first came into the limelight two years ago when retired Catholic Archbishop John Cardinal Njue raised the alarm over their activities. It would be on police radar when other religious and cultural groupings also raised concerns about rampant human rights violations, particularly against women and girls.

Female circumcision

Investigations by the Nation indicate that the group has been practicing female circumcision where girls as young as five are subjected to the outlawed vice.

Their patriarchal doctrines dictate that for man to be a member, he must subject his wife and daughters to FGM. In most cases, the practice is forced and has seen wives run away from their matrimonial homes.

They are also said to support polygamy and wife beating as a form of “discipline”, and prohibit alignment with mainstream religions and one is required to denounce his faith and pledge allegiance to the group’s doctrines.

At the same time, the group is against modern medicine and recommends traditional medicine as the only form of treatment for illnesses.

However, it is the practice of female circumcision that has had police detectives trail the group and its activities over the last two years. This was compounded by their links to the outlawed Mungiki sect on the basis that some of their activities like secrecy and oath-taking were similar.

On April 4, 2022, police made the biggest break yet, in a covert raid that saw seven minors rescued from a homestead in Muthuthini in Mukurwe-ini, Nyeri County. Six of the girls had been subjected to FGM while one, a five-year old, defied her captors and refused to undergo the ‘cut’.

“This was a major breakthrough in curbing this vice that has been creeping back in this region,” Mukurwe-ini sub-county police commander Patrick Manyasi told the Sunday Nation.

Tip-off

The raid by a team of detectives from Mukurwe-ini divisional headquarters followed an anonymous tip-off from neighbours, who noticed girls, who “appeared to have suffered injuries”.

“A team was sent to the home where we discovered girls were being subjected to this vice. We immediately rescued the girls and placed them under medical care. Medics have confirmed that they did undergo the cut and two are still in hospital,” he said.

The girls have since been placed in protective custody by the children’s department.

Three suspects were arrested at a home said to belong to one Benson Warui Muchine. Four others were arrested during a follow-on raid. Police believe Mr Muchine is the leader of the Gwata Ndai cell, which identifies as Muhiriga Kenda Muiyuru. The suspects, Christine Nthenya, Alice Wandia, Cecilia Nyaguthi, Rose Mumbi, Esther Ng’endo, Aloise Waweru and Wahome Muriukim are in police custody awaiting prosecution.

One suspect aged 27 had also been mutilated but will be charged with abetting the vice and failing to cooperate with investigators by withholding information and declining to provide forensic evidence. Police also recovered paraphernalia belonging to Gwata Ndai, among them uniforms and study materials such as books and video discs.  Knives believed to have been used in the mutilation were also recovered, alongside human body tissues.

The Sunday Nation visited the home in Muthuthini location, Mukurwe-ini, in an attempt to demystify the group and its controversial activities. From the onset, a certain level of suspicion meets us as we try to engage Mr Muchiine’s neighbours. Most people are unwilling to speak openly about him and his relationship with the group. There is a sense of fear of the members of the group, but what is clear is that they live in secrecy and their ways of life are considered peculiar.

A local agreed to give us directions to the home but was cagey about revealing details of the occupants of their church.

“They are very secretive and live weird lifestyles. Strange things have been reported to be taking place there, but that is all I can say. I do not want to be accused of snitching on them,” the local says soon after giving us directions.

The home is deserted apart from a few children playing in the compound. Police say Mr Muchine has gone into hiding.

The homestead is mostly similar to others in the area, but one thing that stands out is the house of the head of the home. It is built in the Gikuyu traditional culture where the man’s house (Thingira) was separate from the other structures. It is a round wooden hut with tin roofing and an animal horn at the tip of the roof. It is not clear what significance the horn. Other structures are normal wooden houses but one has been designed as a dormitory and is believed to have been housing the FGM victims.

Our efforts to get details of what happens there were unsuccessful as neighbours insist they barely know the occupants except that they live in peculiar secrecy.

Nevertheless, investigators who raided the home disclosed to the Sunday Nation on condition of anonymity that the members were hostile to the police during the raid. They remained tight-lipped even to the police, who had to obtain a court order to allow medical examination of a woman said to have undergone FGM.

“They refuse to speak, but, luckily, the victims are opening up to us. The suspects, especially, do not want to interact with female officers in some sort of cultural belief,” said a detective, who could not be named as he is not cleared to address the media.

Investigations have revealed that the girls, mostly from Kiambu were taken to the Mukurwe-ini home as far as eight weeks ago and others soon after the conclusion of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam. The girls, according to preliminary police findings, were taken against their will but with the consent of their parents or guardians. In fact, two of the women arrested had taken their daughters to undergo FGM.

On Thursday, Mukurwe-ini principal magistrate Damacline Bosibori allowed an application by the prosecution seeking to detain the suspects for six days pending the conclusion of investigations.

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