Defiant Mungiki adherents yesterday warned that any attempt by the police to crack down on them would be avenged, as police in Nyandarua District arrested 15 hard-core followers of the sect believed to have taken part in the Nakuru killings a week ago.
The outlawed sect members said that for any one Mungiki member killed by police, they would indiscriminately kill 10 people in revenge.
The Mungiki members, who allegedly ordered all matatu operators on route numbers 32, 36, 41 and 42 (Dandora-city centre) not to operate yesterday, vowed they will continue manning the termini.
They challenged the Government to provide alternative employment for them and fulfil their promises to the public instead of engaging in cracking down on them.
The adherents told journalists at Dandora’s Stage 41, where they have camped, that they were ready to die in their fight for control of matatu termini.
"If they kill us, we will kill residents. We are ready to die. Whatever happens, we will stay here. Mungiki is unshakeable and will not be exterminated. We are ready to fight the Government if they dare confront us," the defiant sect members declared.
The members of the group, which has been implicated in hacking to death 20 people in Nakuru and Murang’a, blamed the problem currently dogging the matatu industry on the Matatu Welfare Association (MWA) chairman, Dickson Mbugua, whom they accused of inciting the Government against them. The declaration comes a day after touts (Kamjesh ) engaged the Mungiki adherents in running battles on Friday evening before anti-riot police moved in and dispersed the fighting groups.
Matatu operations between Dandora and the city were disrupted following the skirmishes and commuters were forced to walk long distances to board vehicles along the Outer Ring road.
Despite patrols by police in two Land-Rovers and a Toyota Land-Cruiser, the Mungiki adherents remained at Stage 41 as matatu operators kept their vehicles parked.
In Nyandarua, a gang of 15 Mungiki people, including one woman, was intercepted on Friday night at Ol-Joro-Orok, 20 km from Nyahururu town, having walked all the way by night to avoid detection, police said.
A total of 23 people were killed last weekend in an orgy of violence that left Flamingo and Kimathi estates in Nakuru reeling in shock. One of the arrested suspects had injuries suspected to have been incurred during the Sunday night attack.
He had deep cuts in the face and right arm that were dressed, and he claimed to have been referred to Nyahururu District Hospital from Nakuru.
The Nakuru OCPD, Joel Langat, said the group had carried their injured colleague all the way, but on arrival in Ol-Joro-Orok, they were seen seeking medical attention and police were notified.
On Thursday, detectives from Kasarani police station led by the OCPD, Simeon Kipkeu, recovered the sect’s paraphernalia including what is considered the sect’s holy book from a two roomed bunker