The Mungiki are regularly blasted in all of the Kenyan media as being a violent, organized-crime group. Their religious or political views are rarely–if ever–addressed.

But they’re religious aspects cannot be completely hidden. I caught one news report showing footage of Mungiki-sect members held in police custody that clearly showed dreadlocked followers of the Kikuyu cultural traditions praying together from the Bible.

I was curious about the truth behind theis group, so I asked people on the street about them. I found that Kenyans outside the Kikuyu homelands have no first-hand contact with Mungiki. They tend to use the word as slang for a criminal or murderer.

But, Kenyans in the Nairobi area know alot more about them. They acknowledge that “Mungiki” is a term with old roots in Kikuyu tradition, and it was also used to describe the Mau-Mau freedom fighters. However, I was often told that these new Mungiki have no legitimate connection to the proud traditions, that they are seen merely as a murderous organized-crime group. While they may have begun with high motives, they degenerated into crime and murder. They preyed for recruits on the jobless and addicted. They set themselves against the rest of society and used criminal means for fundraising.

When talking to Kenyan Rastas about this group, I heard nothing but negative. They tell me that Mungiki are not in any way Rastas, either because they do not follow Ras Tafari, or because they engage in murderous acts. Though some acknowledge the virtue of following tribal traditions, I found no one who was willing to look past the highly-publicized criminal activities and murders of this sect. The ill-feelings are exacerbated because Mungiki activities have brought negative police attention upon dreadlocks all over the country.

These are jsut observations. My own opinions could fill their own article…