Fears over MRC resurgence puts security officials on high alert

Mombasa, Kenya; Authorities at the Coast are on high alert over reports that the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) has regrouped and preparing to unleash terror to evoke memories of its attacks on State institutions two years ago.

The alert has been partly triggered by claims by Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku  that the Opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) has been involved in activities to revive the MRC, Mungiki and Al Shabaab to portray the government as weak and unable to deal with the wave of insecurity sweeping across the country.

However, statements from state agencies  over MRC's revival have been as troubling as they have been contradictory. In Tana River, for example, local security officials have claimed that the separatists are re-emerging under a new group,  the Coast Peoples Democratic Movement. But a week after the mid-June massacre in Mpeketoni, the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) said security forces had killed five MRC militants suspected to have participated in the slaughter of the 65 victims of the violence. Interior PS Mutea Iringo and local police swiftly denied these claims.

Such contradictions by government officials have raised considerable doubt about the veracity of  Ole Lenku’s fresh claims regarding the MRC. The separatist movement has been been dormant for two years, with its leaders facing criminal charges in Mombasa, Kilifi, Malindi, Kaloleni, Mariakani and Kwale.

But even as the MRC leaders, most of who are under close watch by security personnel, maintain they are not advocating violence, security officials say they cannot  discount the  fresh intelligence they have received. “We have received several reports that MRC is regrouping at the Coast, and we cannot take chances. We have put the security team on alert and we have launched investigations,” Kilifi County Police Commander James Kithuka said recently.

“We have been getting reports that the group is regrouping and I suspect they have sensed that we know their plans so they have withheld them.”

Pre-emptive measures

Mombasa lawyer Abubakar Yusuf, who has  previously represented some MRC members in court, said on Thursday that he had seen no indication of MRC regrouping. “The  government has taken pre-emptive measures in its claim that MRC is regrouping. There is no indication of the group’s involvement in crime as its members face multiple cases across the Coast region,” Mr Yusuf said.

The lawyer cautioned the Government to urgently address land issues raised by MRC and which were mentioned as the cause of past conflicts in Likoni and Tana River. “Issues of land have featured prominently in Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Tana River, Lamu and Taita Taveta and should be addressed, not avoided,” Yusuf observed.

Unlike in the past, MRC is no longer visible as it does not hold public meetings. At one time, the group claimed it had close to one million members.

 

Kwale County Commissioner Evans Achoki says the security team has identified MRC leaders in the area and is keeping a close eye on them. “We have maintained an alert on MRC leaders in the county, although their activities have been significantly muted after 21 members surrendered to the police recently,” Achoki said.

Kwale County is home to MRC chairman Omar Mwamnwadzi and spokesman Rashid Mohamed Mraja. The two, together with MRC Secretary General Hamza Randu and National Treasurer Omar Babu Suleiman alias Bam’bam, report to the police regularly as they face a multiple of  criminal cases.

In 2012, the four were charged with incitement and illegal possession of weapons at the Mombasa law court.   Randu and Mraja each face three other cases.

“There are about 250 cases of MRC members in Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Malindi, Kaloleni and Mariakani. I personally face three cases in Mombasa, Shanzu and Kilifi law courts,” Randu said on Thursday.

Secessionist campaigns

Meanwhile, Randu said the Government had appealed against a High Court ruling that declared the group legal, as the state pushes to reinstate its ban on the organisation. The matter comes up for hearing in Nairobi on August 20.

Justice Francis Tuiyot lifted the ban on the separatist movement in a landmark ruling on July 19, 2012 but ordered the group to drop its secessionist campaign.

MRC leaders have filed a case seeking to have Coast residents go to a referendum to decide whether or not  the region should secede from the rest of Kenya. Sources in MRC say the group has  applied for registration with the Registrar of Societies. However,  Randu neither denied nor confirmed these claims.

Although Jubilee political leaders have helped free detained MRC leaders by raising their bond, Randu denied they were linked to political parties. Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko’s overt action of bailing out Randu, Mwamnwadzi and Mraja, who had been remanded at the Shimo la Tewa maximum prison, took many observers by surprise.

Sporadic crackdowns on the MRC by former President Mwai Kibaki’s administration raised questions about the government's commitment to contain the group. The government's half-hearted response was viewed as a strategy designed to avoid the alienation of coast voters in a largely  ODM stronghold ahead of the 2013 poll

ODM leaders have claimed that the arrests of MRC leaders only began on October 1, 2012 after the voter registration period had elapsed.However, Randu denied the group's involvement in politics. “We have always stayed out of political groupings. MRC did not have allies in the Kibaki or Uhuru administration. We have never worked with CORD or Jubilee,” Randu maintained. In 2012, MRC ran a spirited campaign urging Coast residents not to register as voters or participate in the General Election. The effect of this was particularly strong in Kwale where only 57 per cent of the eligible voter population were registered.