ABSTRACT
Introduction Armed militant groups have increased exponentially in Africa since the 1980s and the danger posed by these illegal groups cannot be overemphasized. Anne Lesley Warner (2013: 3) has observed that, when they are unable to monitor, interdict and prosecute predatory actors in their sovereign territories, many African countries face localized security challenges that hold the potential to become global security risks. These illegal groups range from the Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, to Niger Delta militia, the Al Shabaab in Somalia, vigilantes in South Africa (Jensen, 2007) and the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) and Mungiki militia in Kenya. In October 2013, Al Shabaab attackers invaded the West Gate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, killing sixty-seven innocent people (East African Standard, October 29, 2013). While the activities of these armed militia groups vary from country to country, the danger posed by their presence has become a serious cause for concern to local and international community. Ultimately, their emergence has increased the level of human and state insecurity in the current geopolitics. Furthermore, they not only jeopardize human security but also threaten to ignite communal violence (Pratten and Sen, 2007; Warner, 2013). Unfortunately, most governments in Africa have tended to be reactive rather than proactive in tackling this challenge. Since the 1990s, attempts by the Kenyan government to deal with the Mungiki militia have been unsuccessful and often ended in violence (Alston, 2009). The phenomenon of armed militias, therefore, calls for a multidisciplinary investigation so as to unravel the motivation behind emergence of such armed groups, their operations and their impact on the socio-economic and political stability of the state. Consequently, the study focuses on the Mungiki and examines the evolution of the movement and its transformation over the years from the 1990s up to 2010. Hopefully, the lessons arising from this historical interrogation will inform African leaders on how to tackle similar potential groups proactively in future before they become a security threat to state stability.
