Muslim leaders ask State to lift ban on outlawed group

Muslim leaders have asked the government to remove the Mombasa Republican Council from the list of illegal groups in order to pave the way for dialogue.

The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya said that the group’s concerns were genuine and urged the government to give them a hearing to ensure a peaceful election period at the Coast.

“The group has conducted all its activities peacefully. Let all government bodies interested in talks with them prove their seriousness by first legalising the group in order to bind the deliberations,” said CIPK secretary-general Sheikh Mohammed Dor.

This comes after the group filed a constitutional application at the High Court to demand a referendum on the secession of the Coast.

Internal Security minister George Saitoti said last week that the group has to renounce the secession agenda for the government to listen to its grievances.

And the government is now staring at a major security threat over the rise of the group that is calling for secession over historical land grievances in the Coast.

The government banned the group in 2009, but it has refused to go, deciding instead to challenge the ban.

The group’s secretary-general Randu Nzai Ruwa told our sister paper, the Sunday Nation, that the group which styles itself as “a social movement of the poor” has a wide following in the region.

“We do not hide because our cause is justified in the eyes of man and God,” says Mr Nzai.

On Monday, Sheikh Dor, who is also an ODM nominated MP, reminded President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga of the continued presence of internally displaced persons in camps and of the need to resettle them ahead of the elections.

The MP and CIPK organising secretary Sheikh Mohammed Khalifa also condemned prostitution and praised Nairobi Mayor George Aladwa for backing down on a proposal to legalise the world’s oldest profession.

“We are happy that prostitution will not be legalised in Kenya,” they said.

According to Sheikh Khalifa, prostitution, homosexuality and lesbianism are against all religions and should not be encouraged.

“Internationally, we know that some leaders, including the UN secretary-general, want to force these practices down our throats,” said Sheikh Khalifa.