By SILAS NYANCHWANI Published July 20, 2010
As vigilante groups go, the revered Sungu Sungu is certainly in its own league. Almost single-handedly, they have tamed crime in the entire Gusii region and parts of Luo Nyanza, with success that have the police green with envy. They execute notorious criminals in the most criminally callous and cold way, and dictate where they should be buried, often at a defunct cemetery. They lynch sorcerers and their ilk and have moved to regulate the Matatu industry, albeit not too fast.
Gangs, mafias, vigilante groups and guerillas, share three things in common: they emerge with good intentions in their hearts, a charismatic leader behind them, and at a time of crisis to fill in the void often left by the government. Because of continued neglect, the masses turn to them, entrusting their sovereignty to them, dutifully obeying their demands that gradually grow ridiculous; and before you know it, they will be crying out louder for someone to help.
As expected, their intervention is normally godsend. They execute their orders with military (sic) precision. They are able to recruit the many readily available uneducated young men to do the dirty job, before the men become an authority of their own. The young men are often pawns of the faceless leaders.
It is never long before the public discovers that they are being taken for a ride. The gangs, almost inevitably turn into extortionist movements in order to sustain their ‘good agenda’, even long after they are irrelevant.
In deed, the Sungu Sungu have come full circle. They arrived at the most opportune time. In 2003, the crime wave in the Suneka region in the outskirts of Kisii town was getting out of hand. Night runners were holding the villages hostage and something had to be done. The government had came up with the popular idea of community policing. For the region, Sungu Sungu was just the right antidote, and they did their job to the satisfaction of many, even though not in the most orderly and just manner. They killed and lynched all suspected thugs, sorcerers and magicians (they still do in the Gusii region) and within record time, order was restored.
Impressed by this precision and ruthlessness handling of the hardest criminals, wealthy businessmen decided to make them the unofficial custodians of their security, they never disappointed. Since then, they have killed single-handedly every criminal and wannabe, leaving in their awake, reasonably satisfied masses.
Lately, though, they are taking over Kisii town, which is the regional hub for business, and easily Kenya’s most rapidly expanding town. The rich are paying dearly for the lives. Small businesses and medium enterprises will soon start paying this tax. Now they are encroaching into the Matatu industry from the periphery, and soon they will be in full charge like the Mungiki in Nairobi. It not a laughing matter, try boarding a vehicle at a wrong place in Kisii town, and you will meet their full wrath, which is conveniently the right thing to do, but the people have paid the town council and the Kenyan government to ensure that someone boards a vehicle at the right place.
The police have been reduced to doing patrols at night, to arrest innocent drunkards and the occasional knee-jerk road inspections. Overtly, they approve of the existence of Sungu Sungu and its shenanigans.
If left unchecked, they will be the next Mungiki, so deeply entrenched to tame. We cannot afford to pay taxes thrice; to the government, to security firms that are becoming rogue, and to vigilante groups.
At any given time, the police are mighty, and they have proven so severally. With the right motivation they can perform miracles. End corruption, educate the youth and give them jobs. Otherwise it is disaster unraveling in front of our eyes.
But as long as the police work with lanterns at road blocks at night, in 2010, it seems we have a long way.
Reach Silas Nyanchwani at editor@eafricainfocus.com
Source: East Africa in Focus
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