Over 200 suspected former Mungiki members have been charged. They were arrested on December 31st, 2023 during a swoop in Nyeri county to weed out followers of the now-outlawed sect. They have been arraigned before an open court in Nyeri County.
Due to their numbers, their initial arraignment had been scheduled for the Nyeri law court on Tuesday morning had to be relocated to the Central Police station in Nyeri. By 2 pm, sections of the police station were converted to two courtrooms to accommodate the 297 men who appeared before Senior Resident Magistrates Merceline Lubia and Mathias Okuche.
Outside the police station, families of the suspects milled at the gate and were forced to follow the proceedings from the fence and the gate after police cordoned off the area.
According to their charge sheet, the 297 who are between the ages of 19 and 64 years were charged with engaging in organized criminal activity contrary to Section 3(a) as read with Section 4(1) of the Prevention of Organised Crimes Act.
“The particulars of the offense is that on 31 December within Nyeri Central sub-county of Nyeri County jointly with others not before the court you were found to be members of an organized criminal group namely Mungiki and engaged in activities of the said criminal group,” reads the charge.
All 297 denied the charges and were released on a cash bail of Sh 10,000. While releasing the accused on bail, both Senior Resident Magistrate, Mathias Okuche noted that the bail terms were reasonable given the gravity of the offense.
“The court notes the gravity of the offense that the accused are charged with . The court takes note that the Sh 10,000 is very reasonable in the circumstances. In the alternative a surety bond of a similar amount,” stated Okuche.
The matter will be mentioned before separate courtrooms at the Nyeri law courts between January 16 -18,2024. The suspects are currently being remanded at the King’ong’o GK prison.