Mt Kenya women MPs told to apologise over Mungiki slur
Women parliamentarians from the Mt Kenya region have been told to apologise for recently terming Kikuyu youths as adherents of the outlawed Mungiki sect.
Members of the women's wing of the Kikuyu Council of Elders drawn from Kiambu, Nairobi and Laikipia counties criticized the parliamentarians saying they should use their positions to rescue the youths from various challenges, rather than antagonize them.
They also called on the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to initiate hate speech charges against the lawmakers.
A week ago, 10 MPs mostly from the Central Kenya region led by Kiambu Woman Rep Ann Wamuratha, had claimed that the once dreaded gang had re-grouped and called on the government to deal with them ruthlessly.
They asked Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki to crack the whip on the 'criminals' terming them as a threat to national security.
However, addressing a press conference in Nairobi’s Kasarani area, women leaders of the council of elders led by Tabitha Mutero, who is also the Amka Mama National Chairperson and Kikuyu Council of Elders Nairobi County Chair Emily Kiboi, the group commonly known as 'Nyakinyua' said the MPs were a big letdown to the same young men who supported them during their election campaigns and even voted for them.
"For instance, Wamuratha has always been claiming she is a defender of the boychild in all public forums, yet she is the one branding our sons Mungiki and calling for brutal action to be used against them. What went wrong and what have our young men done to her now?" Kiboi quipped.
She said it was unfortunate that such utterances were coming from leaders who are mothers and also hail from the same region as the so-called Mungiki followers.
No Mungiki in Mt Kenya
Mutero, on her part, said there is no Mungiki member in Mt Kenya region where in local dialect the term means 'multitude' and therefore the usage of that word was misleading.
"As far as we are concerned, it would mean they are terming everyone from the region as Mungiki," Mutero remarked.
The same sentiments were echoed by Lucy Ndegwa, a Kikuyu council member from Gatundu, Kiambu and Faith Gachuiri from Laikipia who accused the MPs of using their positions to criminalize the youth instead of helping to uplift their lives.
The group appealed to President William Ruto to ensure the rights of all Kenyans are safeguarded and to reprimand the legislators for trying to use unconstitutional means to cause harm to innocent citizens.
