Seventy-two members of the banned Mungiki sect who engaged police in running battles as they were being cleared out of bus stages and routes yesterday appeared in a Kerugoya court charged with touting.
They were charged that they were found touting for the purpose of obtaining passengers for matatus (commuter taxis).
They allegedly made noise and behaved in a manner likely to cause inconvenience and annoyance to the public.
They were said to have committed the offence along Mwea-Embu road in Kirinyaga District.
There was tension as the accused persons who spotted dreadlocks were brought to court under tight security.
Police cocked their guns outside the courtroom as the charge was read to the sect followers.
They denied the charge before the Principal Magistrate Mr Nyaga Njagi and were remanded in custody until today when the court will review their bail application.
Meanwhile, 68 land brokers have appeared in the same court charged with defrauding residents of their farms and obtaining money by false pretence.
When they appeared in court between April 2000 and August this year, they denied the charges.
Some have been released on Sh100,000 bond with a surety of the same amount, while others are out on Sh500,000 bond pending the hearing and determination of their cases.
Local residents had complained that the land brokers, most who are not registered had swindled them of their lands.
In the last five years, 20 families in Kirinyaga have been evicted after their lands were sold through shady deals.