Only when the public organize against them do you see that glimmer of representative democracy and due process (stability).
Maybe they had democracy theatre, it was not working.
The axe men are filling a void that exists because the current formal government was/is ineffective at securing peace and stability.
People join gangs because, for them, that is the only logical thing to do at the time.
If we get ravaged by a pandemic and the government throws up its hands, for example, the first thing you are going to do is join a local gang, and end up at war with another gang (and be busy helping your gang co-opt the former government if it proves advantageous). I give it a few days before your fellow gang members are raping and pillaging on the side...and a few weeks before it becomes the widespread norm.
This evolution is also the plot of The Wire.
[1] - https://toktok9ja.com/meet-the-magnificent-7-the-first-cult-...
