A Review of the History of Mungiki Movement in Kenya, From 2002 to 2012

Abstract

The militias’ movement have become a key player in the perpetration of politically instigated violence in Kenya. The rise of militia groups as player in political violence has generated responses from several quarters, including law enforcement and civil society organizations. Despite the government directives, Mungiki movement has kept on re-surfacing.  The Kenyan authorities have not succeeded in their attempts to limit the Mungiki’s influence or abuses, despite crack downs, which reportedly included summary executions of suspected adherents. Thus, Mungiki poses the greatest threat of large scale political violence in Kenya. This is not only because of their relative ubiquity and seemingly complex network but also due to their manner of operation, which remained strikingly a throw-back to the Hobbesian state of nature. It is this manifestation of the movement which has made it rather difficult to analyse its social, cultural and religious origins. It is based on this background that this review attempts to locate the Mungiki militia group within the academic and ever widening academic and non-academic writings in Kenya.