According a March 2002 opinion article in The East African Standard,

The name mungiki is a corruption of the Kikuyu word for muingi-ki, or multitude. It could also mean everybody. The word signifies support for the group as a mass movement.

This name was virtually unknown among the Kikuyu about 10 years ago and has largely remained a mysterious group which is loathed, almost hated, by those who profess Christianity.

The group began as a religious movement that called for forceful circumcision of women, but has now transformed itself into a political movement, thanks to its national co-ordinator, Mr Ibrahim Ndura Waruinge.

By 1998, Waruinge said the movement had recruited 4,950 members who were mainly spread in the Kikuyu-dominated districts of Laikipia, Murang'a, Kiambu, Thika, Nakuru, Nyeri, Kirinyaga and Maragwa.

The group was founded in the Kiandutu slums of Thika town and parts of Laikipia District in the early 1990s before the movement started enlisting members from other parts of Kikuyuland.

Originally, Mungiki adherents passed off as a religious group, keen only on reviving Kikuyu traditional customs and norms.

It comprised youth who advocated the return of the Kikuyu community to their roots. They advocated women circumcision, the piercing of ears and sniffing of tobacco.

The Mungiki symbol is the red, green, black and white flag. Red, they say, symbolises blood which was shed in the fight for independence and will continue to be shed until the country is "liberated".

Green, they argue, symbolises what was once a beautiful country, while white stands for the peace they are fighting for. Black stands for the land of black people. Mungiki has a council of elders. Each province has six elders who are guided by "prophets" and are charged with the day-to-day counselling of preachers.

Each member pays a subscription fee of Sh3,000. The money symbolises the three blessings of the Kikuyu community, milk, meat and honey, or the three peaks of Mt Kenya (Kirinyaga), the seat of Ngai (God).

Over the years, the movement has gone into business to empower its members economically. In 1998, they leased 400 acres of land for cultivation.

Mungiki, with a membership of nearly 4 million youths, also own tractors, flour mills, matatus and buses.

Its leaders meet every last Saturday of the month to evaluate the monthly performance and challenges. They also take part in public demonstrations, preaching sessions or baptismal rituals.

Anyone willing to join the movement must be vetted by priests and prophets, and then is subjected to Kirira (teaching) of Ngai.

The group conducts its baptismal sessions in secluded places and at odd hours, preferably at 3 am in a river. During this hour, the atmosphere is said to be serene and the water pure (6 Mar. 2002).

The Nation reports that the sect started in Laikipia and Baringo districts in 1987 (13 Mar. 2002).

Mungiki is reportedly "headed by a spiritual leader, referred to as Bishop Maina Njenga, and a national coordinator, Mr. Ndura Waruinge" (ibid.). Provincial co-ordinators include: "Hassan Waithaka Wagacha (Central), Mohamed Kamau Mwathi (Nairobi), Hussein Kimani Ruo (Rift Valley) and Khadija Wangari (women's leader)" (Ibid. 3 Sept. 2000). Mohammed Njenga is a founding member of Mungiki (ibid.).

Details regarding Mungiki's organizational structure are scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. The sect is outlawed by the Kenyan government and it is described as "secretive" in nature (IPS 4 Mar. 2002). The organization claims that they have around 300,000 members, which include 20 who are members of parliament (ibid.).

Several reports make reference to Mungiki's criminal activity. Reports from March 2002 indicate that a group of Mungiki members in Nairobi attacked and killed 20 and injured 28 people with machetes, clubs and hoes (ibid). Other reports place the number of deaths between 20 and 23 and the number of injured from 28 to more than 30 (BBC 4 Mar. 2002; The East African Standard 5 Mar. 2002; ibid. 8 Mar. 2002.; PANA 5 Mar. 2002). On 7 March 2002, police arrested suspected Mungiki members who were found with an assortment of weapons (The East African Standard 8 Mar. 2002). A Nairobi provincial police officer claimed that "Mungiki members were planning to force Matatu owners to pay Sh1,000 per day to fund illegal Mungiki activities" (ibid.).

On the issue of forced circumcision, many articles make reference to the sect's promotion of female genital mutilation (FGM) (BBC 4 Mar. 2002; The East African Standard 23 Apr. 2002; ibid. 24 Apr. 2002; IRIN 25 Apr. 2002). A 23 April 2002 report stated that Mungiki members "issued a three-month ultimatum to all women between 13 and 65 years who have not undergone circumcision to do so" (The East African Standard). Members, reportedly, are giving women in parts of Kikuyu and Kiambaa until 7 July 2002 to "undergo the Kikuyu customary exercise"; those who do not would be forcibly circumcised (ibid.).

For additional information on Mungiki, please consult KEN37218.E of 10 July 2001, KEN38335.E of 11 February 2002 and KEN 38580.E of 5 April 2002.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

BBC. 4 March 2002. "Religious Sect Rampages in Kenya." http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_1853000/1853384.stm [Accessed 19 June 2002]

The East African Standard. 24 April 2002. "Stop Mungiki, FIDA Appeals." http://allafrica.com/stories/200204240138.html (AllAfrica.com) [Accessed 19 June 2002]
_____. 23 April 2002. "Get Circumcised, Mungiki Sect Tells Women." http://allafrica.com/stories/200204230010.html (AllAfrica.com) [Accessed 19 June 2002]

_____. 8 March 2002. "Kenya; 69 Suspected Mungiki Members Arrested." (Africa News/NEXIS)

_____. [Nairobi]. 6 March 2002. "Who Are the Mungiki?" http://allafrica.com/stories/200203060073.html (AllAfrica.com) [Accessed 19 June 2002]

_____. 5 March 2002. "Kenya; 23 Butchered By Mungiki Followers in a Night of Terror." (Africa News/NEXIS)

Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN). 25 April 2002. "Rights Activists Decry Mungiki Circumcision Threat." http://allafrica.com/stories/200204250361.html (AllAfrica.com) [Accessed 19 June 2002]

Inter Press Service (IPS) [Nairobi]. 4 March 2002. "Politics-Kenya: Twenty Die in Battle with Religious Cult." (NEXIS)

The Nation. 12 March 2002. "The Force Behind Terror Gamgs." http://allafrica.com/stories/200203120746.html (AllAfrica.com) [Accessed 19 June 2002]

_____. [Nairobi]. 3 September 2000. "Mungiki Leaders Convert to Islam." http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/36/242.html (AllAfrica.com) [Accessed: 19 June 2002]

Panafrican News Agency (PANA). 5 March 2002. "Kenyans Outraged as Death Toll Rises." (Financial Times Information/NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

IRB Information Responses KEN37218.E, KEN38335.E, KEN 38580.E

Lexis/Nexis

Internet sites including:

Africa Online - Weekly Review

Amnesty International

CBC

CNN

The East African Standard - Online

Human Rights Watch