Claims have emerged that suspected Mungiki sect members are charging traders from certain communities a ‘protection fee’ at Muthurwa Market.
Traders from Western region complained that they are forced to part with a total of Sh180 every day, failure to which they find their stalls vandalised.
According to one of the traders, whose name we have withheld for their own security, they are confronted with daily threats, intimidation and blackmail from the said gang.
According to the trader, the gang operates in Muthurwa in three different ways.
The first one comprises mostly teenagers who appear like street children and walk around demanding cleaning fees of Sh30 from members of the targeted communities. Failure to pay the ‘cleaning fee’ leads to death threats.
The second group, the trader adds, consists of young men who demand Sh50 ‘security fee’ from the two communities from Western region.
“If you fail to comply, they threaten to come for you, claiming Muthurwa Market is theirs and that the Government is aware of their presence,” said the trader.
The third group, the trader claims, comprises the ‘leaders’, who are well known at the market. Their leader, who goes by the name Githaiga, often boasts of his closeness to senior Government officials and city lawmaker.
State connections
The trader claimed that Githaiga demands Sh100 from the targeted communities for the stalls.
Failure to give out this money may lead to losing one’s stall at the market while others have found their wares vandalised or allocated to new people. These monies are separate from the ones the traders pay to the county government.
Joan Auma (not her real name), a fish monger in the market, said it was quite unfortunate that this is happening, yet a police station and the City Inspectorate are just across the road.
“This is sad, and it is happening under the watch of Muthurwa police who should provide security to all the traders,” she said. “The leaders who represent this area should come clean on this matter since the gang boasts of being closely associated with some of them,” she added.
Traders from the communities claiming to be targeted by the group have asked City Governor Mike Sonko to assure them of their security irrespective of their political affiliations and tribe. They also urged Nairobi Police Boss Japheth Koome to tour the market and listen to their security concerns.
“We are asking the police boss to come and look into this, otherwise Muthurwa is sitting on a ticking time bomb waiting to go off,” said another trader.
