A suspected member of the outlawed Mungiki sect was killed in a violent confrontation at the South Ngariama ranching scheme in Murinduko Ward, Mwea-East, Kirinyaga County. The incident occurred when over 500 residents of the area mobilized to repel a group of sect members believed to have been extorting money and illegally acquiring land from locals.
According to eyewitnesses, the confrontation began when members of the Mungiki sect, estimated to number more than 30, attempted to forcibly evict a local resident from his land. Armed with a variety of weapons, the group was overpowered by the residents, who managed to chase them off. During the altercation, one of the sect members was hacked to death by the angry crowd before his body was set on fire.
Peter Wanjohi, a local resident, described how the Mungiki members had been terrorizing the community by threatening and extorting residents, as well as seizing their land. “They wanted to chase one resident from his piece of land when the angry residents attacked them,” he said, emphasizing that despite the sect’s armed nature, the locals managed to overpower them. Wanjohi further stated that the community was determined to expel the group permanently, as they had been living in the area under the guise of land transactions, including forging land documents.
Another resident, Peter Gichira, echoed Wanjohi’s sentiments, stating that the Mungiki had been using intimidation tactics to extort money and illegally claim land. “We don’t want them here. We want to expel them because they have been extorting money from the residents and taking our pieces of land by force,” Gichira said.
The residents revealed that the sect had been brought into the area by a man posing as a land surveyor, who facilitated their land-grabbing activities by forging official documents. “This man had been using these people to forge our land documents, causing confusion in this scheme, but we have said enough is enough,” William Muthike, a local resident, explained.
A security team from Mwea-East sub-county, led by Deputy County Commissioner Fred Ayieko, has confirmed that investigations are ongoing, but they refrained from commenting further on the situation.
The incident has raised concerns about the Mungiki’s resurgence in the region, a group that terrorized locals in 2008 before being driven out. The residents of South Ngariama have made it clear that they will not allow the Mungiki sect to return to the area.
