Leaders split over MRC’s demands

By Paul Gitau

With the general election around the corner, many leaders in Coast Province have been quietly backing the banned Mombasa Republican Council, for fear of losing votes.

So ingrained is the outlawed group in the rural areas, which first surfaced in 2008, that several leaders have openly asked the Government to open talks with it as long as it drops its demands for independence for the region.

Among leaders who sympathise with the group is Fisheries minister Amason Kingi who claimed MRC had raised valid concerns about marginalisation of indigenous residents in the region and matters to do with land and exploitation of resources.

Kingi is perhaps the more open of MPs from the region and has not hidden his sympathies.

Kisauni MP Ali Hassan Joho, also a member of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) like Kingi, has on the other hand ruled out any talks with the banned group, echoing the line of his party leader, Prime Minister Raila Odinga as well as President Kibaki.

The current furore over the makeup of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) board is also best understood in light of the MRC pressure on leaders in the region to demand a greater representation by locals in public institutions.

Again, Joho opted to go against the grain and instead backed the appointments made by Transport minister Amos Kimunya, which some of his colleagues have cast as tribal and lacking "a national face" as demanded by the Constitution.

"MRC demands on land matters, employment and equal distribution of national resources are genuine and the government should not ignore them," Kingi declared in his Magarini constituency Tuesday.

And the MRC leaders hailed the Fisheries minister as a courageous crusader for coastal rights and described other MPs from the region as cowards.

Reports show that local support for MRC is growing due to rising consciousness over land rights, but differ over who is to blame or whether secession is the cure.

MRC chairman Omar Mwamunuadzi claimed in a telephone conversation with The Standard from his hideout in Kwale that most Coastal MPs support the group’s demands, but are reluctant to say so in public.

But Msambweni MP Omar Zonga denounced the MRC, accusing it of using uncivilised methods to achieve what he described as outdated goals.

He told residents of Msambweni Tuesday that although many of the concerns expressed by the group are genuine, the MRC is taking them for a ride by raising false hopes for independence for the Kenyan coast.

Zonga claimed local residents also contributed to the land problem in the region by selling off their land cheaply only to cry out later.

"I support them (MRC) if they will fight for social injustices like land, but when you say you are moving out Kenya it is only wishful thinking that should be laughed at, where do you want to go?" he asked.

"The proponents of the outfit are saying that they will have their independence in June this year, according to Zonga who added that neither the late President Jomo Kenyatta, Queen Elizabeth of England nor former Sultan of Zanzibar who allegedly signed a memorandum ceding the Kenyan coast to Kenya in 1963 was from the [Kenyan] coast.

Meanwhile, former Tourism Minister Najib Balala says the furore over the KPA board appointments by Kimunya give credence to MRC’s claims of marginalisation of the Kenyan coast.

No sooner had Kingi supported MRC’s demands as legitimate than MRC through its Secretary General Hamza Randu declared in Kwale that the group would hold demonstrations to support him if he is fired from the cabinet.

shelve preconditions

Kingi who spoke to his constituents in Magarini Tuesday urged the government to shelve all preconditions and open dialogue with MRC, arguing that a violent clampdown on the group will not erase the grievances that gave it birth.

Addressing Parliament last Tuesday during his second State of the Nation address, President Kibaki declared that the Kenyan coast "has always been and will always remain part of Kenya" and warned the MRC of reprisals.

A day earlier the Prime Minister Raila Odinga had asked MRC to renounce violence and calls for independence before the Government could talk to them.

Whereas most legislators from the Coast have either denounced the movement or failed to speak about it in public, Kingi is the first minister to come out clearly in support of what he considers to be MRC’s legitimate demands.

"At the moment there is no need for any Government official to brag and give demands, but they should instead sit at a round table with the members of MRC to find an amicable solution," he said. The Magarini MP said the group was only voicing deep-seated grievances of locals and there was no need for the State security machinery to be unleashed on them.

"Let the Government know the only solution is to dialogue and address their concerns, otherwise using force on the group members won’t change anything," he added.

Mwamunuadzi, who is wanted by police, described Kingi as the only hope of the Coast region.

"There are 23 MPs at the Coast, some of them quietly supporting our move, but the Magarini MP has tried to openly fight for us," he said.

Omar claimed the Government is today holding close to 53 MRC members arrested in Mombasa during recent demonstrations outside the High Court, and others in Kwale and other parts of the country, and demanded their immediate release.

Omar said Kingi’s statement opens a window to solve the problems raised by MRC through dialogue, while the group’s Secretary General added that the organisation would hold demonstrations to support the Magarini legislator if he is sacked over his stand.

"We like the statement by the Magarini MP. It is true the Government must talk to us today and if the minister is sacked, we shall take to the streets in this region, he said.

MRC spokesman Mr Mohamed Rashid Mraja claimed MRC is a law abiding group and cited its decision to challenge its banning by the Government in court.

"We hope his statement was meant to fight for the local people not to gain popularity among the local Mijikenda people," the spokesman said.

Balala on his part said: "The KPA crisis is a clear testament of the legitimising MRC. This must stop."

Coast Provincial Police Officer Aggrey Adoli, however, refused to comment on the statement.

" Please direct that question to the PC, Mr Ernest Munyi who is the chairman of security in this region," he said.

The PC earlier said the local people are happy that some people have realised the dangers posed by the group and rejected it.

Zonga said violence and secession as advocated by MRC would not solve the land problem at the Coast and warned locals to stop selling their land only to blame the Government later.

"I’m not sorry to say this, but the fact is that some of you saw that money is sweet and resorted to selling land. As soon as it was over and they became squatters they blamed others for grabbing their land," said Zonga.