From: odhiambo okecth

There are rumours that mungiki will ground all the vehicles in Nairobi tomorrow. Can any mungiki man confirm?

– – –
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 10:23:27 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: There is more to Mungiki than Mungiki: A Sermon for this Sunday!

– – – – – – – – – – –

— On Sun, 4/27/08, Ronald S. Edari wrote:

From: Ronald S. Edari
Subject: There is more to Mungiki than Mungiki: A Sermon for this Sunday!
Date: Sunday, April 27, 2008, 10:13 AM

WanaKenya:

The existence of Mungiki is a reflection of a deeper structural
problem that plagues developing countries like Kenya. These alienated
youths are a part of the vast “surplus population” that cannot be
simply absorbed into the conventional structures of the society–the
labor market, the family structure, the educational system, etc.

That the problem of Mungiki is most acute for the Agikuyu youths
testifies to the fact that it is precisely in the Central Province
that the scarcity of land, the densities of population, the
individualism of accumulation of private wealth, the transformation of
the traditional social structure, etc etc etc, is most advanced!

Other areas that are prone to the same type of tendencies and have an
existence of “gang-like” youths who terrorize the people are Western
Kenya (Luhya alienated youths) and Nyanza (among the Abagusii).

In Akamba land, there are pockets of these young thugs who terrorize
certain stretches of the public road between Mombasa and Nairobi. The
only thing that mitigates this problem is the harsh environment!
Simply incredible!

The moral here is that there are “Mungikis” all over Kenya. And that
cannot go away any more than you can abolish poverty in these
impoverished countries. This is a structural problem of all capitalist
societies. And in the weaker capitalist formations it is magnified
several fold.

The Constitution of the Underground Economy
In response to their conditions, the marginalized youths respond by
creating other forms of generating income for their survival. These
include both conventional and unconventional (illegal) activities.
Quite often the two are conflated, particularly in view of the need to
maintain a “front” in the pursuit of illegal activities.

Added to this mix are an assortment of characters who take advantage
of this situation and position themselves as the “leaders” of the
groups. The extreme rituals that are employed during initiation are
simply effective mechanisms of guaranteeing loyalty at the risk of
very extreme sanctions for the transgressors. The rituals that Mungiki
engage in are to some extent functionally equivalent to the gang
initiation methods employed right here in the United States among the
African American and Latino gangs. Gang rape, drive-by shootings,
murder, distribution of illegal substances, etc, are among the rituals
of initiation in the United States.

The invocation of Gikuyu cultural traditions is a powerful mechanism
of initiation that has an ideological twist of mystifying the
pervasion of traditional beliefs and practices. The “emptiness” of
this is exposed when Mungiki don’t get their way and go on a rampage
terrorizing the locals in the Central Province!

It is also extremely foolish for some ruthless leaders in Central
Province to think that they can use these youths for their political
agendas! What you have here is a Frankenstein monster that was not
created by the leaders as “Dr. Frankensteins” ! The creature has its
own life that is embedded in the political economy of the situation I
have describe above.

Once you understand the phenomenon of the “Mungiki” along the lines I
have spelled out, the negotiation with the Mungiki may not be as
“crazy” as it sounds. The trick is to develop strategies of channeling
their energies into more conventional pursuits, while addressing the
larger problem of integrating our youth into conventional
structures– schools, the labor market, family structures, etc,
throughout Kenya!

Enough said for now!

A Parting Note (or shot?)
This narrative is part of my background as a student of social
problems and critical criminology! For years I taught courses on
social problems and my approach was informed by the “political
economy” perspective! Counterpoised to this approach is the
“neo-classical” stuff of Gary Becker et al.–economics of crime, the
family, language, etc! Yak!

Mw. Edari

– – –
Subject: Re: There is more to Mungiki than Mungiki: A Sermon for this Sunday!