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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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Kenya Gov't Linked to Militia

Officials said to have tried to enlist violent Mungiki during turmoil

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(Newser) – Kenya's government might have played a direct role in sanctioning recent ethnic violence. A source tells the BBC that senior officials met with the violent Mungiki militia, with the aim of recruiting the outlawed group as a "defense force" to help protect the ethnic Kikuyu population. In January, Mungiki thugs allegedly used machetes to attack non-Kikuyu in the Rift Valley.

The government denies the allegation, the BBC reports. "No such meetings took place at … any government office," says a spokesman, who also claims that the government took steps to stop the gang from making attacks. "The government stamped on them immediately," he said. A power-sharing deal was reached last week, and Kenya's parliament is set to reconvene tomorrow.

A member of a feared Kikuyu criminal gang, the Mungiki , threatens a man with a machete as they arrive at a Red Cross food distribution point to protect people receiving food aid, in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Thursday Jan. 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)
A member of a feared Kikuyu criminal gang, the Mungiki , threatens a man with a machete as they arrive at a Red Cross food distribution point to protect people receiving food aid, in the Kibera slum in...   (Associated Press)
Some of 37 arrested members alleged of taking part in a banned sect as they were taking oaths to join the deadly Mungiki gang are moved to a Police station in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, Sunday Feb. 17 2008. Mungiki began as a group promoting traditional practices of the...
Some of 37 arrested members alleged of taking part in a banned sect as they were taking oaths to join the deadly Mungiki gang are moved to a Police station in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, Sunday Feb....   (Associated Press)
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki listens to former U.N Secretary General Kofi Annan after signing a power-sharing agreement with opposition leader Raila Odinga following weeks of bitter negotiations on how to end the country's deadly postelection crisis, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008. Both Kibaki and Odinga claim to...
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki listens to former U.N Secretary General Kofi Annan after signing a power-sharing agreement with opposition leader Raila Odinga following weeks of bitter negotiations on how...   (Associated Press)
A member of a feared Kikuyu criminal gang, the Mungiki, brandishes machetes, as he and other members arrive at a Red Cross food distribution point to protect people receiving food aid, in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Thursday Jan. 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)
A member of a feared Kikuyu criminal gang, the Mungiki, brandishes machetes, as he and other members arrive at a Red Cross food distribution point to protect people receiving food aid, in the Kibera slum...   (Associated Press)
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