Nairobi, Kenya - Questions were being asked as to whether there is an unseen hand directing the violence in Mathare slums, which has claimed seven lives since it began on Sunday.
This happened as several hundred marchers, believed to belong to the outlawed Mungiki sect, took over Nairobi's streets Wednesday morning demanding the sacking of Police Commissioner Maj-Gen Hussein Mohamed Ali.
And politicians reacted furiously to the Mungiki march, which started at Uhuru Park and ended in Mathare.
The politicians wondered why the youths, associated with a group blamed for the Mathare deaths, could be allowed to assemble and march through the town.
At the same time, Ali announced a major crackdown on Mungiki adherents, and cancelled all public meetings in Nairobi. This includes one called by Mr Ndura Waruinge in Kibera this weekend.
Nine MPs, who quickly grouped at Parliament Buildings following the demo, accused the Government of abetting the killings by failing to contain the skirmishes.
They were Mr Otieno Kajwang' (Mbita), Mr Peter Odoyo (Nyakach), Mr William Omondi (Kasarani), Prof Ayiecho Olweny (Muhoroni), Mr Gor Sungu (Kisumu Town East), Dr Adhu Awiti (Karachuonyo) and Mr Owino Likowa (Migori).
Others were Mr Erick Nyamunga (Nyando), Dr Oburu Odinga (Bondo) and Mr Philip Okundi (Rangwe).
'Stage being set for lawlessness'
The legislators said they had information that the stage was being set for lawlessness to the extent that when certain politicians were assassinated, it would be blamed on prevalent insecurity.
But Government spokesman Dr Alfred Mutua warned against the politicisation of issues of law and order.
Police officers remove the body of a victim of the violence in Mathare 4A on Wednesday. Seven people have so far died in the skirmishes suspected to have been triggered by the outlawed Mungiki sect last Saturday. Picture by Jacob Otieno
Mutua said the Government would get to the bottom of the matter and do all it could to solve the problems in Mathare.
He said Government officers were doing all they could to resolve the issue by identifying both short and long-term solutions.
Tension was high in Mathare slums as the youths, brandishing the banned sect's flags, attempted to storm Pangani Police Station, where they were repulsed by police officers who fired at them.
Angry Mathare residents lynched one youth as the demonstrating group was forced back by General Service Unit officers deployed to restore calm in the troubled slum.
The GSU pursued the troublemakers and fired at them, turning the slum into a no-go zone for the better part of Wednesday.
Accusations reek of a hidden agenda
Wednesday's demo at Nairobi's Uhuru Park raised eyebrows, as it emerged that it had been licensed by the police under the banner of the Kenya National Youth Alliance, whose patron is Mr Maina Njenga, the Mungiki leader in police custody.
Nairobi Provincial Police Officer Mr King'ori Mwangi said two councillors from Murang'a - Michuki's home district - had applied for the licence and obtained the all clear from the police.
The demonstrators also came out boldly in their attack against Ali, saying he had failed to maintain security.
They condemned the recent attack on the home of Internal Security minister Mr John Michuki and the killing of a chief by the invading gang.
The marchers also demanded the release of Njenga. However, the politicians said it was curious that the group targeted Ali but had no problem with Michuki.
They also dismissed the raid on Michuki's Kangema rural home as "stage-managed". They said the demonstration and accusations against Ali reeked of a hidden agenda that could point at stage-managed insecurity.
Demonstration heightened tension
The demonstration heightened tension and panic in the capital as the youths first assembled at Uhuru Park, where they plotted and a read a press statement before spilling onto Nairobi streets and bringing traffic to a standstill for hours.
Some of the placards they carried read: "Equal Rights and Justice. Ali Stop Selective Justice, Maina Njenga is the Only Political Prisoner."
The group's statement - read by Mr Joe Waiga, the party's executive director - lamented that many people were being arrested for crimes they did not commit and asked Ali to resign.
Waiga said the attack on Michuki's home showed there was insecurity. Unknown people attacked the minister's Kangema home where they fired 51 bullets and shattered his glass door.
The demonstrators appeared well organised and most of them were neatly dressed in sharp suits while a handful wore woollen headgear.
On reaching the Moi Air Base in Eastleigh, the group shouted at women and children who had fled the slum violence and taken refuge there, but police intervened.
Whole sections of the slum deserted
The group then marched to the slum, where more trouble erupted after police lobbed teargas at them. This led to the killing of one man whom residents said was one of the youths.
He was allegedly found carrying a sword and was running away from the policemen when he was cornered by members of the public and stoned to death.
Whole sections of the slum were deserted as residents fled with their belongings.
For several hours, Mungiki youths clashed with contingents of police officers deployed in the area.
Nairobi Provincial Commissioner Mr James Waweru told The Standard the dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed on Tuesday would stand until calm was restored.
Earlier, the PC had met all city police bosses and provincial administrators whom he urged to eradicate the Mungiki menace.
He said some sect members were imported to the slum to cause mayhem.
"We have established that those who went about killing innocent people in Mathare were imported from Dandora. We are investigating," he said.
Waweru said the Government was determined to eliminate proscribed groups to make the city secure for investors.