By Muthui Kariuki
Sometime back, a cartoonist powerfully captured in a series of caricatures the convoluted story of the Mungiki sect.
In the cartoon, Mungiki is depicted as a monster that had innocent and harmless beginnings, so much so that a man (representing politicians) fell in love and took it in as a pet.
But with time, the nice pet grew both in size and appetite. Its previously smooth features also became uglier by the day. Then it ate up the man’s chicken, which was not a big deal at all. Pets can sometimes be allowed such luxuries.
The man only realised his big mistake when his child became next on the now overgrown pet’s menu.
Done with the child, the monster went for him. Fast Forward: another seemingly innocent creature has been adopted in Kenya called Mombasa Republican Council ( MRC).
It may be an election year and the politicians must be careful lest they step on toes, good or bad. But the silence that has greeted the worrying activities of this organisation is disturbing. What was that Motion some politicians have promised to take to parliament?
To discuss in our august House people who have already committed high treason by declaring that a section of this country is not a part of Kenya? The activities and pronouncements of MRC have clearly proved it is not your regular neighbourhood welfare chama. It has all the makings of a monster that will end up eating the chicken, the children and the foolish master.
Recently, the group was accused of disrupting the mock elections in Malindi. Worse, they are alleged to have beaten up a policeman and stolen his gun. If the Malindi exercise was a dress rehearsal for the general election, the MRC’s disruption was a foretaste of what it intends to serve up in the next elections. One of the group’s objectives is to prevent elections from taking place in the Coast region as part of its wider scheme to secede.
Biafran proportions
Its slogan “Pwani si Kenya” is telling. It is also beginning to catch among some residents of the Coast region. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is worried that if something is not done soon, holding proper elections in the region may be difficult.
At best, it will be a chaotic exercise full of fear and irregularities. At worse, the exercise may fail completely. Nothing will boost MRC’s ego than failed elections. I am tempted to ask, could some clever politician have come up with this scheme as a way of rigging elections long before we go to the polls?
