Kenya police on Monday said they had killed eight suspected members of a gang blamed for a spate of murders and beheadings, as part of a widening crackdown.
Once a religious group of dreadlocked youths who embraced traditional rituals, the politically linked Mungiki sect has fractured into a gang notorious for criminal activities, including extortion and murder.
The eight suspected sect members were shot dead overnight from Sunday to Monday in several of the capital’s residential neighbourhoods, said Nairobi police commander Julius Ndegwa, who vowed to intensify the fight against the Mungiki.
”This is just the beginning of the war against Mungiki. We are not going to relent on this war because we are determined to bring their activities to an end,” Ndegwa said.
Authorities have vowed to vanquish the Mungiki, banned in 2002 following slum violence, and blamed for the deaths of more than 40 people since March.
The government crackdown, which comes in the run-up to general and presidential elections scheduled for the end of the year, has left at least 76 Mungiki members dead and seen more than 3 000 arrests nationwide.
Police also killed seven criminals without links to the Mungiki in Nairobi on Saturday.
The latest violence has set off an acrimonious debate, with critics accusing some politicians of exploiting the country’s jobless youth to spark unrest ahead of the elections. — AFP
