A group of rowdy youths in Mwingi has been terrorising Kitui gubernatorial aspirants in efforts to discourage competition.
On Thursday, Kitui gubernatorial aspirant Jonathan Mueke held a meeting with his supporters at a top hotel in Mwingi town.
The meeting to popularise his manifesto and policies ended without any incident.
However, outside the meeting hall, a group of youthful hooligans who appeared intoxicated had attempted to storm and disrupt the meeting.
They were only held back by police who had been deployed at the hotel.
The police successfully blocked the drunken and rowdy youth from accessing the venue of the meeting and disrupt it.
Mueke and his group however came face-to-face with the goons as they left the venue.
They had to brave a barrage of unprintable insults directed at them by the unwelcome intruders.
A video clip that went viral in social media showed the drunken youth hauling abuse at Mueke and cautioning him against ever setting foot in Mwingi again.
The youths declared that Mwingi was locked for a certain Kitui gubernatorial candidate and rivals were persona non grata.
The hostility that befell Mweke’s group is the latest in a series of unpleasant receptions on other two Kitui gubernatorial seat aspirants.
The political terror gangs mostly comprise of boda boda riders.
In January, another hopeful, Julius Kiema Kilonzo, Kenya’s High Commissioner to Uganda, had a nasty encounter with the political gangs.
Kiema had attended Sunday worship at the Mwingi Messaiahship Centre when hell broke loose.
A gang of youthful men and women stormed the church compound and stopped the church proceedings led by Archbishop Julius Nyerere.
The youth demanded that Kiema leaves the venue or face the worst.
They temporarily stalled activities at the church as they bayed for Kiema’s blood. They bore the message that Mwingi was an exclusive zone for a particular gubernatorial candidate.
Humbled and fearing for his life Kiema left the church and hurriedly dashed for his car under a heavy human shield by aides and supporters.
The car sped out under a hail of all manner of missiles including stones and sticks.
First forward to June and former Kitui Senator David Musila too had a taste of the bitter and toxic dose of Mwingi political terror gangs.
As Musila, who has declared his interest in unseating Governor Charity Ngilu, drove along the streets of Mwingi town, he was trailed by a group of boda boda riding youth as they honked wildly.
He at some point lost his temper and pulled up before giving them a thorough dressing down.
After the bitter face-off with the marauding youths, the gang beat a hasty retreat and abandoned the trail.
The three instances of political hooliganism and thuggery epitomises an unacceptable but emerging trend that would easily snowball into political violence unless it is nipped in the bud.
There is a general feeling that the wayward youth are giving a hitherto peaceful Mwingi town a bad name.
Over the years, politicians and political groupings have held peaceful and non-violent political meetings in the town.
The only exception being 2006 when former Kibwezi MP Kalembe Ndile was involved in a scuffle that saw him ejected from a Mwingi Cultural festival, being presided by Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka.
Ndile who was then an assistant minister of wildlife escaped lynching by pro-Kalonzo mob by taking to his heels.
Since then, political events in Mwingi town have always been peaceful until the emergence of the political terror gang.
They have taken over the town to dictate terms in which politicians are allowed into the town and which ones should be locked out.
On Monday, Musila condemned the activities of the Mwingi political goons.
He said it was overt that majority of Mwingi people do not subscribe to the ideals of the minority war-like groups.
"The gang’s must be stopped in their tracks before their heinous activities spiral out of control," Musila said.
Speaking on phone, Musila said it was time the police in Mwingi moved with speed not only to tame the wayward political gangs but also politicians who finance their obnoxious activities.
“It is just one or two politicians who are behind this. Majority of the people in Mwingi are good and law abiding," the former Senator said.
"There are a few elements who communicate with certain politicians whenever they spot a gubernatorial candidate in town. Money is then wired to them so that they can stage chaos.
“They are just a few misguided fellows who are being used by politicians from outside Mwingi to harass election aspirants. I emphasized that they are in the minority,” he added.
Musila called then a minority bunch of idlers who milk money from politicians to mindlessly harass their opponents.
He appealed to the youth being used by politicians to stop it forthwith and allow all candidates unlimited access to any part of the county to seek votes.
He further claimed that some politicians were in the business of hiring youth to issue threats to opponents through social media.
Musila called on the police to delve into the matters and not only arrest the hirelings of the politicians but go for benefactors.
On his part, Mueke, dismissed politicians sponsoring youths to cause mayhem at their opponents meetings as unscrupulous characters who will face the wrath of electorate.
“Those who pay goons and hooligans are desperate cowards unworthy of any leadership responsibility. Political hooliganism has no place in a civilised society,” Mueke said.
Archbishop Nyerere who had hosted Kilonzo at the time his church was stormed said it was shameful that political thuggery had reared its head in Mwingi.
He said the diabolic trend should not only be condemned but be brought to a stop at all costs.
The church leader advised politicians to uphold peace and political tolerance.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
