Kenya's Police Commissioner Major General Mohammed Hussein Ali on Friday distanced himself from the much publicised talks said to be going on between the government and members of the illegal Mungiki sect. Ali said that as far as he is concerned Mungiki remains an illegal sect just like any other banned grouping in the country. The police chief told journalists that he had ordered his officers to step up the war on the sect members.
“The government position on gangs and criminal gangs including Mungiki is very clear. The role of the police is to enforce the law. The rest is obvious. Mungiki is an illegal organisation and if they did not know about that by now, they must be in another planet,” he said. The Commissioner’s statement was clear that he did not, in any way, support the perceived talks reportedly going on between authorities and the sect officials.
The talks were initiated two months ago when Prime Minister Raila Odinga announced publicly that the government was willing to talk to the sect, following a trail of destruction caused by its members across the country.
Odinga made the statement at State House Nairobi during the swearing-in of the new grand coalition cabinet.
