GLANCE FACTS
Court’s warning
• In July, the High Court in Mombasa lifted a 2009 ban on MRC and advised the group to form a political party
• The judges warned against secession agenda noting it is illegal and bends on hatred
• The court further warned the officials against operating out of the law
• MRC denies links to Mombasa-based tycoons or foreign groups
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| Pwani ni Kenya Initiative Group officials Alex Kasuku (left) and Stephen Ndoro at a press conference in Mombasa. [Photo: Standard] |
By Willis Oketch
A movement to counter Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) has been formed.
Its leaders dismissed MRC as a red herring created by the wealthy to disguise their culpability in the immense inequalities in Coast Province. They declared that majority of Mijikenda people want to belong to a united Kenya.
Pwani ni Kenya Initiative Group officials Alex Kasuku (chairman) and Stephen Ndoro (Kwale County Representative) accused MRC of distorting history, raising false hopes among Mijikenda and conspiring to marginalise them more by urging locals to burn their Identity Cards and calling for a polls boycott. The new group says MRC’s agitation has scared away investors and stalked xenophobia flames.
“As a Mijikenda, I have no regret for being a Kenyan. I will fight to ensure my children and the future generation remains in Kenya,” said Kasuku, who also announced that the group will launch its campaign by hosting 1,000 delegates from Coast’s six counties in Mombasa on Saturday to reverse what it considers negative influence on Mijikenda.
“We will prove that MRC’s slogan ‘Pwani si Kenya’ has no support in the region,” said Kasuku, who added that his group “will start campaigning against MRC next week during the launch.”
Kasuku claimed MRC’s motivation and agitation is considered suspect by Mijikenda’s that revere the late Coast leader Ronald Ngala, who supported the region’s union with Kenya at Lancaster House’s constitutional conference before the end of British colonialism.
Few people
On Sunday, Kasuku dismissed MRC’s agitation for secession saying it “is a movement being supported by a few people in Mombasa but not in places like Kilifi, Malindi, Voi Lamu and Tana River.”
He claimed those supporting MRC want to protect their massive land and wealth acquired illegally.
“We want to stop them from misleading Coast people that the area is not part of Kenya. Pwani ni Kenya whether they like or not,” said Kasuku.
