It was quite a surprise to see the Prime Minister Raila Odinga extend an olive branch to members of the Mungiki sect and called for dialogue with the sect’s leaders.
Maina Njenga, the self-styled leader of an outlawed sect-Mungiki and its political wing the Kenya Youth Alliance Party (KENDA), said to have met government officials at his prison cell in Naivasha to discuss ways of ending tension in the country. It is obvious that Maina Njenga who is serving a five year prison term at the Naivasha Maximum prison on charges of illegal possession of fire arms is not some kind of idealistic gang leader, according to the various sources on his background.
In short, he is a political opportunist who has hijacked a genuine cause of grievance for his own personal gain. Since that is the case, its imperative that the government and in indeed Prime minister Raila Odinga should have had the “sect leader” compelled to call to end the havoc being caused by his sect members.
Why did Raila call for dialogue with the Mungiki leaders? Was it because Mungiki had publicly supported Raila’s Orange Democratic Movement during the 2007 presidential and parliamentary elections? This is what many locals have been saying about him. So, if that is the case, then the current grand coalition government is equally guilty of fomenting violence in the country. Raila must act tough in order to redeem the name of the government.
The government might argue that the current mayhem being caused by sect members is a storm in a teacup and that it is being blown out of all proportions. This might be the case, but the fact remains that the violence witnessed in various parts of the country has been a hotbed of rebellion for many years because of the way in which people have been systematically excluded by successive regimes.
Its the people that the government should pacify – not a sect leader who says he is acting on behalf of the people. After all, the sect has been hijacked by criminals who, at one time or the other, have been used by politicians to do their dirty work for them. This is what has spawned people like Maina Njenga.
The fact that Raila Odinga deigned to talk to Maina Njenga has given the man the sort of respectability that he does not deserve.
While Maina Njenga and his group were wreaking havoc in the suburbs of Nairobi, the price of essential commodities and even transport jumped on the local market, only to ease after news filtered through to the markets that Raila had called for dialogue with the sect leader.
Some wags have suggested that the antics of the Mungiki could have been aimed at making the government jittery in order to sell its agenda. This is stretching the imagination, but the way the whole affair has panned out, the theory might not be too far-fetched.
But, seriously speaking, Prime minister Raila Odinga has to take robust action not just to deal with the Mungiki imbroglio but also with other organized groups around the country.
This will be his major test as Prime minister. He will have to handled domestic issues with the urgency or seriousness they deserve. He is more of an international man. He is quick to jet off to foreign parts to talk about issues such as the elections in Zimbabwe, which does not appear to be getting the support that was expected from African leaders any way.
But action has to be taken to halt the slide into anarchy. Raila’s has accused Kibaki’s first administration of presiding over widespread violence that has left over 8,300 people dead since he came to power in 2002 under a coalition agreement. This figure should be viewed as unacceptably high. Kenyans do not deserve to be going through such a traumatic period now that they have a constitutionally elected Prime minister. We could have been understood this sort of violence under the various dictatorships that have been in charge of Kenya.
This is the reason why we believe that Raila should change tack and try to resolve the Mugiki menace once and for all.
However, a new political chapter has opened in Kenya, whether we like it or not. It is not going to be business as usual and government should be prepared to accommodate opposing views from groups willing to become part of the democratic process in order to make the changes they want to see in the country. Being part of this process might help the rancor to dissipate. It must be said that the previous administrations have been responsible for the evolving of organized gangs, with an estimated 24 outlawed organized gangs operating in the country, to try and improve the lives of the people in the country. Although this will take time, the government should consider it as a positive step to addressing post-historical injustices.
