The Mungiki sect has been holding meetings in Nakuru since May, the Sunday Standard has learnt.
The first meeting towards the end of May was held Ndundori Gwa Kiongo, an outback trading centre on the boarder of Nakuru and Nyandarua districts in the chilly night and a cleansing ceremony conducted in a river.
But police sources say they were unable to catch up with the sect members because they mingled with the public after they realised they were being followed.
"We discovered a pattern after our informers told us that sect members were leaving their homes for a journey, one by one," said the source.
He added that before the force could recruit more informers to follow the sect members and their direction, the trail went cold, and they re-appeared after two days.
In the other instant, a driver with one of the branded public service vehicles that ply the busy Nakuru/Nairobi route said he was hired in early June by people who asked to be taken to Kitengela and back.
"When we arrived at an isolated farm I was shocked to find that it was a meeting of the sect members from all over the country, who were building a huge house," he said.
The man said the Mungiki followers had a busy day, laying the foundation of a house, putting up a fence and holding prayers and a feast before dispersing at dusk.
Both sources said the sect members engaged in oathing and other macabre acts, vowed to stand by each other at times of need and swore to eliminate deserters.
Fearful residents of Nakuru said the sect leader uses several aliases, including Kainuria and Meja, while one of his real names is Gichia.
He lives in Engachura village, and controls the group by relaying information through trusted allies who move swiftly from one location to another.
His deputy is called Mitimingi - his home area- and operates from Kimiruri home in Bahati. His real name is Njenga.
Police sources said the two have been sighted in Nairobi riding in the same car with one of the outspoken Narc MPs from Nakuru district.
The same politician, said the source, is being closely watched by security forces for utterances in public meetings to the effect that the youth should not allow the "government to be grabbed."
The sect raises money from well-wishers in Nairobi, Nakuru, Meru, Nyeri, Murang'a, while the battle for control of the lucrative public transport routes is still going on.
Public service drivers and conductors say the sect members only moved from the parks in the town centres and set bases in estates.
In Nakuru, they still collect their Sh10 levy at the end of the Mwariki, Rhonda, Pangani, Langalanga and Racetrack estate routes.
Most of the sect members do menial jobs like hawking and invade the main terminus after 8 pm when touts close down and demand a fee from vehicles that operate late.
According to transport operators in the town, the Mungiki demand "protection fees" for late night vehicles, a trend police have been unable to stop.
The emerging Mungiki, say sources, are under Chief Managers in designated locations, who receive information on potential cash sources, and organise extortion rings.
Once thought and said to have died out, the outlawed sect members have now resorted to underground tactics as it goes about reviving its spirit.