Deadly shoot-out with Kenyan sect

NAIROBI – Kenyan police killed more than 20 suspected members of an outlawed religious sect accused of beheadings and the deaths of two police officers this week, authorities said yesterday.

The shootings of the suspected Mungiki members happened between Monday night and early yesterday, in the aftermath of the officers’ deaths in the Mathare slum Monday, police said. Sixteen of the suspects were killed in an area known to be a hideout for the Mungiki, said Paul Ruto, the police chief in charge of northeast Nairobi.Most of those killed were young men in their 20s, according to a police official who did not want to give his name because he is not permitted to speak to the media.Relatives of the men were heading to the city’s mortuary to identify the bodies.Mungiki is believed to have thousands of adherents, all drawn from the Kikuyu, Kenya’s largest tribe.The group, whose name means “multitude’ in the Kikuyu language, was inspired by the bloody Mau Mau rebellion of the 1950s against British colonial rule.In recent years, it has been linked to extortion, murder and political violence.Members traditionally wear dreadlocks, inspired by the Mau Mau who wore them as a symbol of anti-colonialism and their determination not to conform to Western norms.In recent years, however, many Mungiki have shaved their heads, believing dreadlocks are too conspicuous.Sect members pray facing Mount Kenya, which the Kikuyu believe to be the home of their supreme deity.The group also encourages female genital mutilation and using tobacco snuff.Nampa-APSixteen of the suspects were killed in an area known to be a hideout for the Mungiki, said Paul Ruto, the police chief in charge of northeast Nairobi.Most of those killed were young men in their 20s, according to a police official who did not want to give his name because he is not permitted to speak to the media.Relatives of the men were heading to the city’s mortuary to identify the bodies.Mungiki is believed to have thousands of adherents, all drawn from the Kikuyu, Kenya’s largest tribe.The group, whose name means “multitude’ in the Kikuyu language, was inspired by the bloody Mau Mau rebellion of the 1950s against British colonial rule.In recent years, it has been linked to extortion, murder and political violence.Members traditionally wear dreadlocks, inspired by the Mau Mau who wore them as a symbol of anti-colonialism and their determination not to conform to Western norms.In recent years, however, many Mungiki have shaved their heads, believing dreadlocks are too conspicuous.Sect members pray facing Mount Kenya, which the Kikuyu believe to be the home of their supreme deity.The group also encourages female genital mutilation and using tobacco snuff.Nampa-AP