Panic is rapidly spreading in some villages in Murang’a County over fears that the dreaded Mungiki sect could have returned.

In Muthitha village, Kandara Sub-county, two high-school boys are nursing critical injuries after a gang identifying itself as Mungiki recently attacked them with crude weapons leaving them for the dead.

One of the victims, Cyrus Mburu, said they were attacked at dusk near their homes.

“I was attacked together with my friend by people who said they belong to the Mungiki sect. They attacked us with machetes saying their group does not even hesitate to kill,” narrated the form-three boy.

A few yards from Mburu’s home, Jeremiah Wainaina lies helplessly in bed. Both Mburu and Wainaina were attacked the same night but Wainaina sustained more severe injuries to an extent he cannot even stand.

Wainaina says the gang beat them before slashing their limbs but the attackers hid in the bushes after the victims yelled for help.

“The first beat us before slashing us but we yelled and they hid in the bushes before the villages could arrive,” he said.

The two boys said they identified the attackers to be from an opposite Kiandera ridge but the police have not taken action despite having reported the attack.

The parents of the two boys have been left struggling with hospital bills as their families are not well off and they depend on casual jobs for survival.

The villagers said if the dreaded Mungiki sect has returned, then they have everything to fear.

In the adjacent Maragua Sub-county, a burial of a suspected former Mungiki leader on Tuesday shocked the villagers after the police forced the family to bury the deceased in sub 15 minutes.

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The reign of Mungiki terror in Central Kenya

The reign of the sect in Central Kenya was marred with terror and brutal killings.

In 2009, in what came to be known as the Mathira Massacre, 29 villagers were brutally murdered by the outlawed sect members in Mathira Nyeri.

A few days prior to the Mathira Massacre, 15 suspected Mungiki members were eliminated by vigilantes operating in Kirinyaga County.

Even after the former Minister for Interior Security John Michuki cracked a whip on the sect in 2009, the group resurfaces from time to time.

In some areas of Murang’a and Nyeri, the suspected sect members regroup and extort illegal taxes from matatu operators.