Nairobi, Nakuru, Naivasha, Nyieri and Eldoret were all affected by yesterday’s Mungiki demonstrations. A day after President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga named the cabinet, one would have expected Kenya to be celebrating. Instead, the capital city was completely paralyzed by road blocks set up by the Mungiki at key strategic points around town. Early in the morning they pulled up a section of the railway line in the Nairobi slum of Dandora, which caused a train to completely derail. Running gun battles went on through the morning between Mungiki and police in Dandora, dubbed the Mungiki capital city.

The surprise attacks seem to be a Mungiki trademark, and police had little explanation for why they were caught so off guard. But I found it hard to believe, since last week I was already receiving information that the Mungiki were planning attacks on the State in retaliation for the big crack down on sect members in the last few weeks. Then at the weekend, the imprisoned sect leader, Maina Njenga’s wife was found murdered, beheaded, apparently with a saw. Retaliation was sure to come, and it doesn’t place much confidence in the police force when you consider that Nairobi was paralyzed for two hours yesterday morning before they got their act together.

Last month several hundred Mungiki members descended on downtown Nairobi demanding the release of their leader, Maina Njenga. It was difficult to understand how for more than two months, gatherings of more than a few people in town were disbanded by police immediately, and yet, the country’s most feared gang members managed to invade the capital city en masse and unchecked. It certainly makes one wonder if there aren’t Mungiki sympathizers high up in the ranks of government and security.

The Mungiki sect is actually quite anti-Kibaki. Mungiki is strictly a Kikuyu sect and they expected Kibaki, also a Kikuyu, to allow them freedom to carry out their business. But in 2006 the president declared the sect illegal and began rooting them out in brutal campaigns where thousands are said to have disappeared or died. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that many Mungiki did not vote for Kibaki in the contentious December 2007 elections. But in the second wave of violence that rocked western Kenya in January and February, there is undeniable evidence that Mungiki were hired by the State to carry out attacks on rivaling tribes.

Indeed, I heard the same eye-witness accounts across the country, that first police would move in, and just behind them gangs of Mungiki would follow, armed with machetes. Some accounts even told of Mungiki being given police uniforms and guns. I spoke with a GSU officer in Mathare North in January, who wished to remain anonymous, but indicated to me the very police station where Mungiki came to get their uniforms in the night. But after the power-sharing deal was signed in February, the State immediately embarked on a series of impressive raids of Mungiki strongholds, arresting, beating and harassing scores of suspected members. It appears that the recent Mungiki uprisings are in protest of these raids, and already last week, we were hearing ruminations about possible retaliatory acts.

The Mungiki sect is a mixture of three groups: the religious movement, the political movement, and the criminal arm. It is unknown how many Mungiki members exist in Kenya today, as their practices remain largely shrouded in secrecy, but estimates range from one to two million. The group first came into prominence in the 1980’s and sprang from the Mau Mau who fought for Independence from British rule. They pushed for a return to traditional values and refused western practices. The sect has since undergone a metamorphosis and turned into the most feared gang in Kenya. They have accrued considerable wealth by extorting taxes from public minibus companies and slum residents, in exchange for security the official police forces should, but do not provide. While the machete is the traditional weapon of choice for Mungiki, more recently, they have introduced guns within the highly trained criminal ranks of the sect, and police are yet more apprehensive to deal with them now.