The attacks in Naivasha were launched in an orderly and well-planned manner on the morning of 27 January 2008.
Mungiki members in Nairobi who had been designated to carry out the attacks were mobilized through text messages requesting them to report to specific locations in Nairobi from where they were picked up by Citi Hoppa buses and transported through secret routes to the State House in Nairobi.
Upon arrival at the State House, the Mungiki members were addressed by a Mungiki leader in the presence of senior government officials The Mungiki members were then transported from the State House to Naivasha in the backs of military trucks by men wearing Kenyan army uniforms.
The trucks contained brand new machetes as well as wooden clubs which the Mungiki were instructed to use for the battle in Naivasha The Mungiki were broken up into groups of ten fighters each to be commanded by an experienced Mungiki member of the military wing.
The strategy employed by the attacking Mungiki and pro-PNU youth was to
(1) deploy secretly through the forests on the outskirts of town;
(2) mix with the other local Kikuyus to swell the numbers available for the fighting;
(3) deploy simultaneously in different places in town;
(4) monopolize the attention of the authorities and efforts of the Kenya Police; and
(5) demand the lifting of a curfew within the town and withdrawal of a unit of deployed prison guards whom they accused of harassing the local population and supporting the ODM.
Despite knowing that there was a shortage of policemen, the Naivasha District Commissioner lifted the curfew and directed the withdrawal of the prison guards.
Following the District Commissioner’s actions, groups of Mungiki and pro-PNU youth deployed immediately to immobilise local transport and set up barricades and checkpoints to block transit and request people to identify themselves in Kikuyu language. They began to target and kill perceived ODM supporters.
They conducted door to door searches in a manner suggesting that they had pre-identified targets. The attackers burnt several perceived ODM supporters to death and chased others down before hacking them to death with machetes and clubs.
The Mungiki members worked with pro-PNU youth burning, destroying and/or looting the property and businesses of perceived ODM supporters. They targeted and vandalized the houses of persons believed to be hosting or housing ODM supporters.
The attackers forced other PNU supporters to join in the attacks and accused them of supporting the enemy when they refused.
The attackers used slogans saying all Luos should leave Naivasha and that they were going to “finish” the Luo. They forcibly circumcised Luo men. In one incident, a perceived ODM supporter was ambushed by a group of pro-PNU youth who cut off his testicles and placed them in his hands before cutting off his penis and putting it in his mouth. The next day, the victim’s headless body was
found lying on the road. The attackers had mutilated his body in front of his five-year old son.
In another incident, the Mungiki and pro-PNU youth targeted a house in Naivasha where a perceived ODM supporter was known to live. The targeted tenant had fled his house as soon as he saw the approaching attackers. In fleeing the house, he left women and children alone locked inside. The attackers poured petrol on the house, set it on fire and completely destroyed it. All 19
people who sought refuge inside, including two babies, were killed
The attacks lasted until 28 January 2008. The evidence shows that the Kenya Police were instructed not to interfere with pro-PNU youth being transported to the Rift Valley. As in the Nakuru incident, the Police response was inadequate, despite having had prior knowledge of the attacks and being well informed of the situation on the ground.
Although one of the local organizers of the violence publicly admitted that the Mungiki were used during the attacks in Naivasha, the Prosecution is not aware of any of the main organizers having been prosecuted for the attacks.
As of 31 January 2008, at least 50 people were killed during the PEV in Naivasha, including at least 39 civilians perceived to be ODM supporters, some of whom were women and children. Twenty-three victims, including 13 children, were burnt to death, and 16 were killed by crude weapons, mostly machetes, but also local clubs called rungus, pieces of metal and spiked clubs.
Victims were also killed by gunshot. Another 53 people were injured during the attacks, including 37 injured by sharp pointed objects. Four cases of forcible circumcision were reported. One woman in particular was gang raped by five men.195 It is suggested that many other cases of rape went unreported due to the trauma caused by such crimes and societal stigma
Additionally, about 9,000 perceived ODM supporters were forced to seek refuge in the Naivasha Police Station where they stayed under dire conditions, with no water, food or proper sanitation
Mungiki members in Nairobi who had been designated to carry out the attacks were mobilized through text messages requesting them to report to specific locations in Nairobi from where they were picked up by Citi Hoppa buses and transported through secret routes to the State House in Nairobi.
Upon arrival at the State House, the Mungiki members were addressed by a Mungiki leader in the presence of senior government officials The Mungiki members were then transported from the State House to Naivasha in the backs of military trucks by men wearing Kenyan army uniforms.
The trucks contained brand new machetes as well as wooden clubs which the Mungiki were instructed to use for the battle in Naivasha The Mungiki were broken up into groups of ten fighters each to be commanded by an experienced Mungiki member of the military wing.
The strategy employed by the attacking Mungiki and pro-PNU youth was to
(1) deploy secretly through the forests on the outskirts of town;
(2) mix with the other local Kikuyus to swell the numbers available for the fighting;
(3) deploy simultaneously in different places in town;
(4) monopolize the attention of the authorities and efforts of the Kenya Police; and
(5) demand the lifting of a curfew within the town and withdrawal of a unit of deployed prison guards whom they accused of harassing the local population and supporting the ODM.
Despite knowing that there was a shortage of policemen, the Naivasha District Commissioner lifted the curfew and directed the withdrawal of the prison guards.
Following the District Commissioner’s actions, groups of Mungiki and pro-PNU youth deployed immediately to immobilise local transport and set up barricades and checkpoints to block transit and request people to identify themselves in Kikuyu language. They began to target and kill perceived ODM supporters.
They conducted door to door searches in a manner suggesting that they had pre-identified targets. The attackers burnt several perceived ODM supporters to death and chased others down before hacking them to death with machetes and clubs.
The Mungiki members worked with pro-PNU youth burning, destroying and/or looting the property and businesses of perceived ODM supporters. They targeted and vandalized the houses of persons believed to be hosting or housing ODM supporters.
The attackers forced other PNU supporters to join in the attacks and accused them of supporting the enemy when they refused.
The attackers used slogans saying all Luos should leave Naivasha and that they were going to “finish” the Luo. They forcibly circumcised Luo men. In one incident, a perceived ODM supporter was ambushed by a group of pro-PNU youth who cut off his testicles and placed them in his hands before cutting off his penis and putting it in his mouth. The next day, the victim’s headless body was
found lying on the road. The attackers had mutilated his body in front of his five-year old son.
In another incident, the Mungiki and pro-PNU youth targeted a house in Naivasha where a perceived ODM supporter was known to live. The targeted tenant had fled his house as soon as he saw the approaching attackers. In fleeing the house, he left women and children alone locked inside. The attackers poured petrol on the house, set it on fire and completely destroyed it. All 19
people who sought refuge inside, including two babies, were killed
The attacks lasted until 28 January 2008. The evidence shows that the Kenya Police were instructed not to interfere with pro-PNU youth being transported to the Rift Valley. As in the Nakuru incident, the Police response was inadequate, despite having had prior knowledge of the attacks and being well informed of the situation on the ground.
Although one of the local organizers of the violence publicly admitted that the Mungiki were used during the attacks in Naivasha, the Prosecution is not aware of any of the main organizers having been prosecuted for the attacks.
As of 31 January 2008, at least 50 people were killed during the PEV in Naivasha, including at least 39 civilians perceived to be ODM supporters, some of whom were women and children. Twenty-three victims, including 13 children, were burnt to death, and 16 were killed by crude weapons, mostly machetes, but also local clubs called rungus, pieces of metal and spiked clubs.
Victims were also killed by gunshot. Another 53 people were injured during the attacks, including 37 injured by sharp pointed objects. Four cases of forcible circumcision were reported. One woman in particular was gang raped by five men.195 It is suggested that many other cases of rape went unreported due to the trauma caused by such crimes and societal stigma
Additionally, about 9,000 perceived ODM supporters were forced to seek refuge in the Naivasha Police Station where they stayed under dire conditions, with no water, food or proper sanitation
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