Police launch operation in Nyeri after banning Maina Njenga's meeting
A man is arrested by police officers in Nyeri town where former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga was to hold a meeting on December 31, 2023.
Police have mounted a major crackdown against supporters of former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga in Nyeri town and its environs.
Several people were arrested and roughed up Sunday as a contingent of police officers intensified an operation to thwart a meeting slated to be chaired by Mr Njenga at Kabiru-ini grounds.
Security checks have been mounted at all roads leading to Nyeri town, signaling that a directive could have been issued by the government to block the event.
Police officers have been stationed at Nyeri-Nairobi, Nyeri-Nyahururu, and Nyeri-Nanyuki highways, with others patrolling estates.
More officers are also manning Kabiru-ini grounds where the meeting of Mt Kenya leaders was expected to take place.
The government has since banned the meeting, announcing that it is unlawful.
Police officers in a truck man a major road in Nyeri town where former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga was to hold a meeting on December 31, 2023.
Nyeri County Commissioner Pius Murugu has issued a directive that the meeting be banned accordingly.
Mr Murugu directed the National Government Administration Officers (NGAO) and nyumba kumi elders at the grassroots to remain alert and curb any forms of gatherings by Mr Maina and his group.
"We have heard that there are some people who want to convene a meeting here and disrupt peace. We will not allow that meeting in our area. Nyeri has been a peaceful county, and we will not take chances in exposing our citizens to insecurity," Mr Murugu said.
"We are warning all those people who are resurfacing in the name of Mungiki. We will not allow the reemergence of Mungiki. You know that Mungiki is a sect that harms lots of people sometimes and we will not allow us to go back to those days of terror," he added.
About Mungiki
"All security officers, especially chiefs and nyumba kumi elders, should be alert and ensure that we do not drag back to those days."
Mungiki is a proscribed ethnic organisation that operates in central Kenya. The name mũngĩkĩ means "a united people" or "multitude" in Gikuyu language and the group fashions itself as a religious sect.
The sect, which can be traced back to the late 1980s, is secretive and bears some similarity to mystery religions around Africa and the world.
Police officers disembark from a truck in Nyeri town where former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga was to hold a meeting on December 31, 2023.
Contacted, Kikuyu Council of Elders Nyeri branch chairman Muthoga Kirethi on Sunday said the meeting had been rescheduled to a later date.
"It has been pushed to another date. Thank you," Mr Muthoga said in a brief phone interview with the Nation.
The ban came after Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua recently raised an alarm over alleged reemergence of the outlawed Mungiki sect in his Nyeri backyard.
The DP assured Kenyans that the government would stop all illegal activities by the Mungiki group.
Mr Gachagua said a section of rogue youth had started harassing businesspeople at the bus stages and shopping centers by forcefully charging them illegal taxes.
Police officers man a major road in Nyeri town where former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga was to hold a meeting on December 31, 2023.
“I want to assure our people that they should not be afraid. We will not allow that group to resurface,” Mr Gachagua said.
"They have come back to terrorise our businesspeople. They have started extorting money from the businesspeople so that their businesses are safe."
He was addressing mourners at PCEA Ngorano Junior School grounds in Mathira during the burial of Mercy Wairimu Kinyua - the mother of Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KLRO) chairman Peter Weru Kinyua.
“Where is the county police commander? I am telling you that you should protect these people together with their property. Why should the illegal group of youths collect money from matatu owners at the bus stages, yet you (county commander) are there? That is your work,” the DP told Nyeri County Police Commander Benjamin Rotich at the funeral.
“This is a country that is governed by the rule of law. People cannot continue living in fear in their own country where we have laws and a government in place. We will not allow that,” he added.
After the funeral, the country's second-in-command convened a brief meeting with top security officials before boarding the helicopter.
