Nairobi, Kenya - Bringing down the outlawed Mungiki sect has been a difficult task for authorities due to the use of oaths in recruitment and as a way of binding members together in loyalty.
Sect leaders who spoke to The Big Issue in Nakuru last week said the administration of oaths to new recruits was meant to strengthen the group and ensure they shared the same goals and aspirations, as opposed to committing beastly acts such as killing non-members.
To join the outlawed Mungiki sect, one has to undergo an elaborate ceremony that includes taking a binding oath whose main feature is to swear never to reveal the activities and secrets of the movement to others. One is also made to understand that failure to honour the clause would mean death.
First and foremost, those intending to join the sect must be circumcised men and women or younger people intending to undergo the rite.
Despite it being declared illegal, the sect continues to recruit young men and women across the country, but this time around, they say, it is a political party.
Initially held at their shrine in Karandi area of Laikipia District, the oathing ceremony is an elaborate process, which begins late in the evening, goes on through the night to end at dawn.
Black sheep and goats were slaughtered and their blood mixed with some concoction said to be made out of wild plant roots. Traditional Kikuyu beer, Muratina, whose main component is honey is served in plenty as the initiates engage in singing and chanting slogan in praise of their gods and the movement.
Elaborate ritual
Paraphernalia, which include walking sticks painted in red, green, black and white, gourds and small tobacco containers are passed around to members and a flag in the same colours is normally hosted outside the shrine.
"We are Mungiki and we shall stick together and guard the secrets of our sect. We shall protect one another and remain united under our leaders…" the initiates chant as they sip a bloody concoction that is passed around to everyone present. They also sing traditional songs.
Roast meat is also passed around to members who take bites in turns after their leaders, and tobacco, in small containers, is passed around for members to sniff, says a former member who requested anonymity.
The man, who co-ordinated Mungiki activities in Rift Valley since the sect was founded until it was declared illegal, says the aim of the elaborate ritual is to unify the group. "All we wanted to achieve was strong unity and to be identified by the society," he says.
The sole purpose of the oath, he says, is to ensure that the initiates abide to our doctrines of coming together to form a society that respects the Kikuyu culture and the ancient practices.
As morning comes, the new initiates are "baptised" in the wee hours of the morning at a dam near the shrine. The then sect spiritual leader Maina Njenga conducted the ceremonies. The converts are immersed in the murky waters before passing over a goatskin, which is spread on the ground where the spiritual leader stood.
The sad thing about those who joined the sect after being coerced was that there was no turning back after the oath, our source revealed. "Anyone who joined the sect would be allowed to know all the secrets including our sources of funds our operations and other internal matters. That is why some people were killed once they denounced the sect," he reveals.
There is no turning back once you are a true Mungiki, he says, adding that no one has ever performed a reversal ritual. "This explains why those who join us disappear from the public domain once they feel like not continuing to be members," he explains.
More secretive
Although the government a few years ago destroyed the shrine in Laikipia, the sect leaders maintain they still carry out their activities in secret locations in Rift Valley Province. Late last year, some General Service Unit officers raided the sect’s secret location in Ngong near Nairobi, evidence that the group never stopped operating — it only became more secretive.
The leader says no one will stop Mungiki unless the members decide to end it. "We are back in a big way and our activities are not only concentrated in the matatu industry. We have gone into other businesses in a bid to raise funds for our activities," he warns. However, the leader says the oath is not meant to make followers commit crimes such as killing and adds that people have been using the sect as scapegoat anytime criminals do something.
The fear of death, like in the traditional African oaths, is what dominated the process, something that has made most followers, who have since lost interest or those who have other reasons to leave, not to openly declare their departure from the sect. The source said a number of those who have declared publicly that they have left the sect, died in mysterious circumstances. Some were beheaded while others had their tongues pulled out when they were killed.
Those still in sect meet in small groups disguising themselves as business partners or members of a self-help group. This minimises suspicion. Most of the members no longer keep the trademark dreadlocks that made them easily identifiable and they have stopped sniffing tobacco in public.
A large number of youngsters joined the sect out of excitement and desire for adventure without knowing what it entailed. Those are the people who were later brainwashed and used by politicians as machinery to cause mayhem in various parts of the country, says the then Rift Valley coordinator.
He says most of these were killed while others languish in jails because they did not properly follow the sect’s teachings and themes. Due to that ignorance they allowed themselves to be unduly exploited and misused.