Police in Nyandarua and Laikipia districts yesterday jointly mounted an operation to stop a planned meeting by the Mungiki sect.
Major entry points to Nyahururu town were sealed off by armed policemen while passengers in vehicles heading to the town were flushed out for screening.
Laikipia and Nyandurua acting police chiefs Titus Ndung'u Karuri and Tom Mutisya were heard issuing firm instructions to the officers to disperse any gathering of three or more people and if need be, arrested them.
However, leaders of the Mungiki sect had on Saturday afternoon called off the meeting to avert a clash with security forces.
The sect's national chairman, Mr Maina Njenga, told reporters in Nakuru town that he was disappointed that the Government had outlawed the rally even after the sect members had informed the police about their plan to hold a public meeting.
He said the sect will soon hold a rally in the town "whether the Government like it or not as it has shown that it has no regard for people's right to assemble and exchange ideas."
"The Government has in the past accused us of being an underground movement but when we decided to come out in the open and abide by the law, it has without any reasonable cause denied us our right to hold a meeting."
He threatened that they would revert to their underground operations.
The rally was scheduled to discuss youth leadership, security, governance and justice, he said.
Mr Njenga was flanked by the sect's co-ordinator for Rift Valley province, Mr Kimani Ruo, and some sect members.
Nyahururu become a ghost town as many business premises remained closed while majority of the residents opted to remain in doors for fear of being caught in the anticipated confrontation.
A spot check by the Nation found that even shoe shiners and hand-cart pushers, majority of whom belong to the sect, were missing from the streets.
Some sect members who had arrived in the town on Saturday evening for the meeting disappeared after sensing the heavy police presence.
A lorry load of policemen was dispatched to Kasuku trading centre in Ol Joro Orok division, Nyandarua district after word reached the police that members of the sect had rescheduled the rally to the place but which turned out to be a hoax.
The rally had been publicised through posters in Nairobi, Nakuru, Laikipia and Nyandarua.
The posters had said the rally was convened jointly by Mr Njenga and the national chairman of the Sisi Kwa Sisi political party Mr Rukenya Kabugua.
Similar meetings in the past in the town have ended up in bloodshed after confrontation between sect members and the police.
Nyahururu Mayor John Muritu called on the sect and other interest group to follow the right procedures in convening such meetings.