Attack on Likoni police station stunned nation, emboldened raiders

BY BEATRICE WAMUYU

MOMBASA: An attack on a police station in Likoni on the night of August 13, 1997 was one of the most audacious acts of violence and disrespect for law witnessed in Kenya.

Hundreds of armed people invaded a police station in Likoni, stealing guns and killing 13 people, including six police officers. The nation was in shock as reports indicated they also stole 20 rifles and 5,000 rounds of ammunition in what appeared like a preparation for large scale attacks in the run up to national elections later that year.

But the attack was not an isolated case. Reports had surfaced that a gang or several local gangs were training in the Kaya Bombo Forest and Similani caves.

Akiwumi Commission

The attacks, which were said to target  people from outside the Coastal region, became a major blot on the image of the area and greatly affected the local economy. Tourists kept away for months, leading to lay offs and loss of income.

It was widely believed that local politicians fueled the violence, with calls for majimbo (regionalism) as they fomented an old belief that locals had been marginalised.

Witnesses who later testified in the Akiwumi Commission said politicians openly asked local people to rise up against outsiders.

Preparations for the ultimate eviction had started nearly a decade earlier, with a well-calculated plan to convince residents that blame for their woes lay on the shoulders of people from other parts of Kenya.

For instance, a witness told the Akiwumi Commission that in 1991, a local leader had told residents that upcountry people who supported the opposition would be chased away “with arrows in their backs.”

Several MPs and tycoons were later named in Parliament as having been behind the mayhem.

Days after the surprise attack on the police station, several raids hit the region, sending people into a panic. By August 20, leaflets allegedly signed by the Association of Pwani Peoples, which had not been active before, surfaced in key areas. They urged “natives” of Coast to cooperate in kicking out “foreigners.”

A gang also attacked the Likoni Catholic Church, where people displaced by the mayhem were sheltering.

It was one of the first cases of tribal violence where the military was deployed to restore order amid reports police had been compromised. The administration and regular police, General Service Unit, Navy and Army were deployed to quell the chaos. However, the military was later withdrawn.

Mainly targeted were communities seen to support the opposition, including the Kikuyu, Kamba and Luyha.

Investigation by human rights groups and the commission found that politicians had set up an elaborate machinery to recruit, train and supply arms for the attacks.

Several accounts by raiders and informers who attended oathing ceremonies showed the involvement of top politicians, who were also named.

According to a human rights groups, politicians fanned the mayhem by exploiting ignorance of local people and poverty.

Demand compensation

 “KANU politicians astutely turned local bitterness into political support for their party,” Human Rights Watch wrote in a report. “As in other parts of Kenya, such as the Rift Valley, they rallied the local population around calls for majimbo, the federal system promising the return of land to the control of its pre-colonial inhabitants and that regions would gain greater autonomy vis-à-vis the central government.”

Attackers operated freely and with the knowledge of local police and government officials.

One local farmer, Roshanali Karmali, said the gangs took over his farm and trained there in full disregard of the law. Karmali had filed a suit demanding to be given access to the Akiwumi Report, which would enable him demand compensation through the courts.

The report was released following a court order.