Why is there doublespeak over coastal strip?

Editorial

The quest for self-governance and self-determination was a bug of sorts that grew in the late 1950s and germinated into a tendril that covered the early 1960s.

Many Africans who had hitherto been classified as inferior beings by a snot-nosed colonialist elite agitated, rightly, for the right to Independence.

They felt they could do a better job at sharing and exploiting the natural resources of the African continent rather than wait at the bottom of the stairs for whatever scraps they could get.

Their wishes were granted, one African colony at a time. Kenya included: In 1963. And a new rabid disease was discovered called grabiosis, although most strains of this virulent malady have proved hard to eliminate.

Therein lies the problem morphing under the aegis of Mombasa Republican Council ( MRC).

As power was handed over to the better-educated leaders in the hinterland, the former coastal supremacy gradually became a distant dream. The coast was just a place to journey to for its sandy beaches, warm, humid weather and idyllic holiday destination.

The new elite also became afflicted by the grabiosis and forgot that the coastal were also a part of the newly independent nation and literally shared out huge swathes of this beach headland.

And half a century on, an underground movement is stoking rebellion and spoiling for a fight. Some are even openly calling for secession of the Coastal Strip from the rest of the Republic of Kenya.

Do they have a point?

Yes and No. Do they also deserve land title deeds for ancestral parcels? Yes. Has the pace of development of the Strip been lethargic compared to the rest of the country? Yes. Does this make them Second Class Citizens? No. And should they continue to agitate under the banner Pwani Si Kenya (We are not a part of Kenya)?

Most definitely not!

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