NakuruTown East MP David Gikaria wants Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery to probe Mungiki activities

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery

Nakuru Town East MP David Gikaria has claimed there is a re-emergence of the outlawed Mungiki sect and its members are extorting money from traders at the newly established Nasha Square hawkers market.

The MP told The Standard yesterday that he has raised the matter with Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery who promised to take action.

"It is true that members of the sect have been regrouping in the town and have been collecting Sh40 from traders at Nasha Square under the pretext that they will provide them with security," he said, adding that a number of traders had complained to him.

His claims come just a few weeks after Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri sensationally accused the county government of hiring Mungiki followers to move hawkers from the central business district.

Baseless claims

Governor Kinuthia Mbugua, who sanctioned the relocation, vehemently denied the allegations and dismissed the claims as baseless.

Yesterday, Mr Gikaria said he was scheduled to meet Mr Nkaissery this week to shed more light on the matter, which he allegedly raised with the CS during last weekend's Jubilee Alliance Parliamentary Group meeting in Naivasha.

The lawmaker claimed sect members, who had gone underground, had re-emerged and were becoming increasingly bolder in their extortion that targeted the matatu sector, business people and the general public.

But County Commissioner Mohammed Birik denied the claims, saying authorities had not received any information concerning the presence of Mungiki in the town.

"I am not aware of the claims of Mungiki regrouping in Nakuru town. The leaders should pass the information to the County Security Committee instead of going to the media," he said.

Mr Birik praised the hawkers' relocation, saying their moving from the central business district had led to reduced crime on the streets.

Gikaria said while he was in support of the clean up exercise by the county government, he was opposed to the process done without proper consultation.

"It is okay for the county to clean up the town but it must do so humanely and offer solutions to challenges traders face such as access to a secure business environment," he said.

The legislator said Nasha Square lacked essential facilities such as water, toilets and proper stalls for the hawkers to display their wares.

The county government, through a task force formed to oversee the hawkers' relocation, is planning to set up the necessary facilities at the site and find a suitable place away from the CBD for the remaining group of traders.

Meanwhile, a number of business owners have moved to court to fight the relocation of hawkers to Oginga Odinga Road.

The businessmen said the county government's decision to move the hawkers to Service Lane was obstructing their businesses and was a security threat.

They claimed hawkers were operating dangerously along the lane, which is near a sewerage system, power lines, fire exit routes and loading areas.

Grant orders

The petitioners, who comprise four individual businessmen and three limited companies, want a legal declaration that the county government's relocation of hawkers to the road is unconstitutional because it infringes on their right to security.

However, resident judge Maureen Odero yesterday declined to grant conservatory orders stopping further allocation of space by the county government along the road.

She instead directed the case to be mentioned jointly with a case filed by the hawkers on February 4 after the county government files its response.

Last week, the governor found reprieve after the judge upheld the relocation, allowing him to move the remaining 411 out of 1,700 hawkers.

The hawkers were given Nasha Square and New Wakulima Market to operate from but they rejected the venues, saying the market was meant for fresh produce. Matatu owners have also filed a suit claiming the square is a matatu terminus.