Anti-MRC lobby group formed, plans launch

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.

He added, “If the late Ngala declared in Lancaster House that Mombasa is in Kenya, who are these people trying to mislead locals.”

Kasuku assured communities from other parts of the country living in Coast Province not to panic over MRC’s threats. He urged them to join the new group, which supports peaceful elections.

“We want communities living in the region to know that they have a right to live here like the Mijikenda people who have a right to live in Kisumu, Nairobi and Eldoret,” said Kasuku.

According to him, MRC’s “threats” have denied the group support in the Coast. He questioned why MRC adopted the word Mombasa in its name yet it purports to fight for the entire province.

Ndoro dismissed MRC’s calls for local people not to participate in next year’s elections.