Outwitting the professor of politics? Mungiki narratives of political deception and their role in Kenyan politics

Abstract

The Kenyan general election of 2002, which put an end to Daniel Arap Moi's 24-year rule, has been subjected to much political analysis. The article takes as its point of departure the politico-religious movement Mungiki and the movement's own narratives of its role in the elections. Mungiki's narratives tell a story of alliances and behind-the-scenes political play that differs from the public version of events. It is argued that the movement's retrospective narratives provide a useful tool for exploring future possibilities for Mungiki's engagement in Kenyan politics. The narratives are primarily internal narratives, in that they are intended for the movement's own members. As such, they invite a discussion of Mungiki's perception of truth and, more broadly, of the relationship between narratives and truth.

Keywords:

• Kenya
• Mungiki
• narrative
• truth-telling
• politics

Acknowledgement

Thanks to the Danish Research Council for Communication and Culture (FKK) for financial support.

Notes

1. The empirical material and some of the initial analytical ideas discussed in this article were presented at the IFRA workshop “20 Years of Democratizations in Eastern Africa,” Kampala, Uganda, October 1–2, 2009.

2. Maupeu, “Les élections comme moment prophétique,” 59. See also Kagwanja “Facing Mount Kenya” and “Power to Uhuru?”

3. Gecaga, “Religious Movements and Democratisation,” 83; Kanneworff, “These Dread-Locked Gangsters,” 122–5.

4. Though Lonsdale and Odhiambo (“Introduction,” 5) focus on memories of the Mau Mau movement, they also point to the multiplicity of actors, events and narratives that may serve as building blocks for a new democracy in Kenya. Though the analysis of Mungiki's narratives of the 2002 elections captures only one aspect of the broader process of democratic development in Kenya, the analysis nevertheless adds to our understanding of the role of coercion and cooption in the intersection of formal and grassroots politics.

5. Feldman, Formations of Violence; Gilsenan, Lords of the Lebanese Marches; Jackson, Politics of Storytelling.

6. Feldman, Formations of Violence; Gilsenan, Lords of the Lebanese Marches; Jackson, Politics of Storytelling.

7. An alliance between the Kalenjin Moi and KANU, and the Luo Raila Odinga might seem contradictory, but not impossible: Odinga was part the young group of politicians who teamed up with Moi before Uhuru Kenyatta was announced as Moi's successor in 2002. Shortly after the announcement, Odinga abandoned KANU. Raila's father, Oginga Odinga, was a member of KANU until his resignation from the party in 1966.

8. Kanneworff, “These Dread-Locked Gangsters,” 124.

9. Kagwanja “Facing Mount Kenya,” 29; Wamue, “Revisiting our indigenous shrines,” 455.

10. Anderson, “Vigilantes, Violence and the Politics of Public Order”; Gecaga, “Religious Movements and Democratisation.”

11. Waki Report, 102–3.

12. Gecaga, “Religious Movements and Democratisation,” 85.

13. For analyses of the generational aspects of Mungiki's politics, see Kagwanja, “Clash of Generations” and “Power to Uhuru”, and Rasmussen, “Mungiki as Youth Movement”.

14. Compare Ndeda, “The Struggle for Space.”

15. Kagwanja, “Power to Uhuru?,” 55; Gecaga, “Religious Movements and Democratisation,” 76–77.

16. Kagwanja, “Power to Uhuru?,” and “Clash of Generations?”; Maupeu, “Mungiki et les élections” and “Les élections comme moment prophétique.”

17. Alston Report, UN Special Rapporteur; Oscar Foundation, The Killing Fields and Veil ofIimpunity; KNCHR, The Cry of Blood.

18. Kagwanja “Facing Mount Kenya,” 39–42.

19. “State Frees Mungiki Leader,” Daily Nation, October 23, 2009; “Mungiki Leader Freed,” Standard, October 24, 2009; and, “It's Time to Dismantle Mungiki,” Standard, October 25, 2009.

20. Jua Kali is the Kiswahili term for informal work, but in general the term denotes any kind of makeshift business or housing. See King, Jua Kali in Kenya.

21. Berman and Lonsdale, Unhappy Valley, 343.

22. Kavulla, “Our Enemies are God's Enemies.”

23. Because Mungiki is an illegal movement, which faces persecution by the police, those members who are not well-known public figures appear under pseudonyms in this article.

24. The conversations with Njuguna Githau Njuguna referred to here took place in November and December 2008 and August 2009.

25. KNCHR, “Press Release on Police Whistle Blower,” February 24, 2009.

26. Elkins and Lonsdale, “Memories of Mau Mau,” 20–2.

27. Lonsdale, “Contests of Time” and “Authority, Gender and Violence.”

28. Foucault, Power/Knowledge.

29. See Ingelaere, “Does the Truth Pass across the Fire without Burning?”

30. Lonsdale, “Prayers of Waiyaki,” 281.

31. See Anderson, “Vigilantes, Violence and the Politics of Public Order”; Kagwanja, “Facing Mount Kenya,” “Power to Uhuru?” and “Clash of Generations?”; Maupeu, “Mungiki et les élections” and “Les élections comme moment prophétique”; and Maupeu, Katumanga and Mitullah, The Moi Succession.

32. Gilsenan, Lords of the Lebanese Marches, 59; Jackson, Politics of Storytelling, 11.

33. Feldman, Formations of Violence, 13.

34. Jackson, Politics of Storytelling, 15–16

35. Kagwanja, “Power to Uhuru?,” 2.

36. Lonsdale, “Soil, Work, Civilisation and Citizenship,” 308; Medard, “Key Issues,” 377–80.

37. Daily Nation, November 9, 2009 and November 11, 2009

38. Compare with the Alston Report on extra-judicial killings by the Kenyan police.

39. For example, Jackson, Politics of Storytelling, 36.

40. Kagwanja “Facing Mount Kenya,” 42. See also Gecaga, “Religious Movements and Democratisation,” 82.

41. Gilsenan, Lords of the Lebanese Marches, 64.

42. Anderson, “Briefing: Kenya's Elections 2002,” 341; Kagwanja, “Power to Uhuru?,” 67.

43. “Mungiki Plan to Launch Party,” Nairobi Star, March 16, 2009; “Former Minister Charged with Incitement,” KBC, May 13, 2009.

44. Billig, Ideology and Opinions. Thanks to my colleague at RCT, Andrew Jefferson, for introducing me to Billig's work.

45. Billig, Ideology and Opinions. Thanks to my colleague at RCT, Andrew Jefferson, for introducing me to Billig's work.

46. Billig, Ideology and Opinions, 146, and “Rhetorical and Historical Aspects of Attitudes,” 89.

47. Jackson, Politics of Storytelling, 252

48. Feldman, Formations of Violence, 1.

49. Maupeu, “Religion and the Elections,” 56.