Martha Karua leads 51 lawyers in demanding release of suspected Mungiki members

A battery of 51 lawyers wants a Murang'a court to free a group of elders who were arrested on suspicions that they are members of the outlawed Mungiki sect.

The lawyers, led by Martha Karua, are opposed to the conditional release of the elders by the Court under Article 87 of the Penal Code.

"This case is a test for the Mountain because if our culture and religion are going to be criminalized, then as a people we are being denied rights that are in our Constitution," Karua stated.

"No community in Kenya, not the Kikuyu or anyone else should be stopped from enjoying their cultural rights. We are going to resist with all our might and with the legal instruments available.”

The lawyers, who include former Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni, Kibe Muigai and Ndegwa Njiru, claim that the 22 elderly persons are victims of profiling of a community and the Central Kenya region.

“The last time we had this kind of harassment and intimidation as a community was under the KANU regime. We can see this being replayed. The intention of these charges that have been referred to as being members of Mungiki have nothing else other than to intimidate and harass Kikuyus,” Kioni said.

"We will not exist by the virtue of the whims and wishes of individuals. We are here as a matter of right and we shall demonstrate it to the highest level that we can, and that is why we have objected to the withdrawal of that case. This case is not a trial of the 22, it is a trial of the entire Kikuyus, Mt Kenya region," lawyer Njiru added.

Karua maintained that the Kikuyu community is guaranteed rights under the Constitution to enjoy their culture.

The elders were arrested in December while at the Mukurwe wa Nyagathanga shrine in Murang'a.