Kenya's Mungiki gang leader set free, re-arrested

Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:57pm EDT

NAIROBI, April 28 (Reuters) - The leader of Kenya's Mungiki criminal gang was re-arrested on Tuesday, just minutes after a high court judge had set him free, because police want to question him over the murder of 28 people.

Police said Maina Njenga was taken back into custody in connection with the mass killings at the weekend.

"Njenga was arrested following credible information that he personally ordered the murder of 28 people in Chehe village," police said in a statement. [ID:nLL533763]

The Mungiki gang is feared for beheading victims and is involved in extortion, racketeering, protection rackets, kidnapping and murder, police say.

Njenga had successfully appealed against a five-year sentence after he was found guilty of being in possession of an illegal firearm and drugs.

Police said he would be investigated in relation to several other serious criminal offences committed by the gang under his leadership.

Gang members committed the murders in retaliation after villagers, tired of constant harassment, planned to expel Mungiki from their community.

The attack which occurred near Karatina, a town in Nyeri West district in central Kenya, some 100 km (60 miles) from the capital Nairobi horrified many Kenyans.

Mungiki, which means multitude in the local Kikuyu language is alleged to have links to politicians who hired members as muscle during the disputed Dec. 2007 elections. At least 1,000 people were killed in clashes after the poll.

The gang's size is unknown but it claims thousands of members, mainly unemployed youths. (Reporting by Humphrey Malalo; writing by Wangui Kanina; editing by Matthew Jones)




Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.