Some beliefs of the Mungiki (a banned sect) are good, a church report has said.
The positive aspects include the preaching of self-reliance, hard work and independence among poor youth, the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) report says.
Releasing the survey results yesterday, the NCCK director of programmes, Mr Sam Kabui, said the sect's progressive ideas inculcated hope among the poor.
However, Mr Kabui said the sect also had retrogressive beliefs which should be condemned.
He cited female circumcision and tobacco-sniffing.
Mr Kabui said a survey on which the report was based showed that the Mungiki advocated freedom of assembly, which has sometimes been denied by the government.
"The sect members believe they have the right to assemble anywhere in Kenya without seeking authority from anyone," he said.
This, he added, was a right that should not be denied any Kenyan.
The report, titled Mungiki Movement in Kenya: Religio-Political Analyses, was commissioned by the NCCK.
Mr Kabui released it at the NCCK's fifth Central regional conference which ended yesterday at the Mathari Pastoral Centre, Nyeri.
He urged the government to conduct "proper investigations" to establish what had led to the formation of the sect.
He said Mungiki members had been dismissed and dealt with violently, adding that such action would not solve the problem.
The report, he said, took issue with the conversion of some Mungiki members to Islam, terming it "a marriage of convenience to fight Christianity".
Mr Kabui expressed concern over allegations that senior government officials were funding Mungiki.
He said even after more than 20 people were killed by sect members in Nairobi's Kariobangi estate earlier this year, not "a single member" was charged with the offence.
A participant said sect members in Laikipia recently seized a government house and converted it to a Kanu office but no one was arrested.
Mr Kabui said there was "general apathy" in the country, adding that matters were only investigated if there were "political stakes".