By Philip Mwakio and Willis Oketch
Attempts by police to block a protest by members of the banned Mombasa Republican Council ( MRC) Tuesday ended with the death of a marcher.
Police said the man was killed after a stone thrown by fellow protesters hit him on the head as the crowd battled police outside the High Court.
The incident came a few hours before President Kibaki issued what could be his second and final State of the Nation address from Parliament, warning that the Government will never let the Coast region secede as demanded by MRC. The protest turned rowdy after police fired tear gas canisters into the crowd of MRC supporters trying to enter the High Court in Mombasa. Police confront members of the Mombasa Republican Council at the Mombasa Law Courts on Tuesday. Some members have been charged with belonging to the outlawed group. [Photo:Maarufu Mohamed/Standard]
Nine people were charged in court for belonging to an unlawful group ( MRC). This followed 10 others charged with the same offence in the past weeks. At the same time police are searching for locals who are over 18 years old but either lack or have not applied for a national identity card.
"They must tell us where they lost the important (identity) cards, which are used by any Kenyan who is above 18 years," said Coast Provincial Police Officer Aggrey Adoli.
Mr Adoli warned that the crackdown would continue throughout Coast Province.
However, the MRC claim it has already collected the votersâ cards from supporters in the region to sabotage the coming General Election.
Members of the outlawed group say their biggest challenge with the Government is lack of land, unemployment and poor infrastructure.
They want non-indigenous residents who they say own most of the prime land in Coast Province to leave.
Unless their demands are met, says the group, they will press on with the fight to have the region secede.
