NAIROBI
(Reuters) - It all started with a rumor: the Mungiki, a dreaded Kikuyu tribal
militia, had infiltrated Nairobi’s Kawangware slum. Within minutes, local men
already fired up by Kenya’s divisive election had grabbed machetes and sticks
to defend their
turf.
By the end
of Friday night’s confrontation, a man had been beaten to death and rows of
shops and homes set alight, a worrying taste of how quickly ethnic violence can
erupt in the Kenyan capital’s volatile slums.
Almost all
the 50 deaths since August’s presidential vote have been in clashes between
protesters and police.
The deeper
fear of Kenyans is that the months of political strife, exacerbated by the
courts annulling the August vote, eat away at deep tribal divisions and ignite
a wave of inter-ethnic violence, as happened after a disputed 2007 vote when
1,200 people were killed.
The
Kawangware fighting was sparked by rumors that Kikuyu, the tribe of President
Uhuru Kenyatta, had drafted in members of the Mungiki to protect them from
opposition supporters.
On Friday, a
Reuters witness saw a group of men armed with machetes, known locally as
pangas, on the streets of Kawangware.
Their
identity was unclear, although several residents said they were Mungiki,
brought in after opposition loyalists burnt down a prominent Kikuyu-owned
business the previous night.
The Mungiki,
notorious for castrating and decapitating victims, were blamed for hundreds of
deaths in the 2007 clashes. Their relative quiet since has not diminished their
reputation.
“They were
more than a hundred, and they were carrying all new pangas,” Vitalis Aloyi, a
Kawangware resident, said.
Another man
said residents had to act to defend themselves.
“We had to
teach them not to bring Mungiki here. If they bring Mungiki, we will destroy
their property and their lives,” said Kennedy Ochieng, an ethnic Luo, like
opposition leader Raila Odinga.
SMOKE RISING
As the
pro-Odinga vigilantes, also armed with clubs and machetes, swept down the muddy
street they set fire to Kikuyu businesses suspected of hiding Mungiki
militiamen, Ochieng said.
One man was
killed, and his body burned, leaving a charred spot on the road. Some Odinga
supporters denounced him as Mungiki, but no one could explain how they knew.
The next
day, with smoke still rising from the twisted wreckage of homes and shops, the
remaining traders in Kawangware began loading their wares of pipes, popcorn
machines and meat onto trucks.
“All the
other tribes are against the Kikuyu here because of the voting,” said Stephen
Kamau, whose fruit stall was burned down. “These people will come back and burn
more.”
Others in
the district, long home to mixed communities, said the truth was more nuanced.
As political tensions rose, some businesses had hired local youths for
protection, said Rhoda Kungu, a market trader.
She insisted
the vigilantes were not Mungiki.
“We are all
brothers and sisters. We just want to live in peace,” she said.
Another
trader, Brian Njenga, said it may merely have been pro-Odinga youths spotting a
chance to enrich themselves, demanding protection money or looting businesses
before they burned them.
“Some people
are just using this situation to get personal benefit,” Njenga said to somber
nods from a crowd of youths around him. “Many have not worked for a long time
because the economy is very down.”
A few
hundred meters down the rubbish-strewn road, hundreds of young men milled
around on street corners. Teargas from the night before lingered in the air.
“We want to
kill Mungiki. They must know this is our territory,” one man shouted. “Don’t
think because it is quiet now that we are at peace. We are just waiting for
something!”
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