Why MRC is wrong on Coast split

The 1963 agreements transferring the coastal strip from the Sultan of Zanzibar to Kenya had no provision for secession, contrary to separatist claims, the Daily Nation has established.

The tripartite agreement signed on October 8, 1963 by the British Principal Secretary of State Duncan Sandays, representative of the Sultan of Zanzibar Seyyid Jamshid bin Abdulla, Kenya’s Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta and his Zanzibari counterpart Mohammed Shamte, does not give the Coast the right to a secession referendum after 50 years, as claimed by the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC).

Instead, it provides for a unified Kenyan state at independence.

“The territories comprised in the Kenya Protectorate (coastal strip) shall cease to form part of the His Highness’s dominions and shall thereupon form part of Kenya,” says the document seen by the Nation.

In 1961, the Sultan of Zanzibar Abdulla bin Khalifa and British Secretary of State for the Colonies Iain Macleod commissioned Mr James W Robertson to review the 1895 agreement on the Coastal Strip in the countdown to Uhuru.

The December 14, 1895 agreement had placed the area comprising Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale and Lamu counties under British rule.

Mr Robertson was specifically asked to explore the viability of the Coastal Strip — then known as Kenya Protectorate— as an autonomous entity and the possibility of it becoming an independent nation.

In a report titled: “Sessional Paper No. 9 of 1961: The Kenya Coastal Strip Report of the Commissioner”, he said it was not tenable to grant the coast autonomy.

The report was discussed at the Lancaster House conference between March 12-18, 1962 in a meeting attended by six representatives of the Coastal Strip, eight elected members of the Kenyan and Zanzibari legislatures and the Governor of Kenya.

The Sultan of Zanzibar was represented by a legal adviser.

Notable elected leaders present were Ronald Ngala, RS Matano, Daniel arap Moi, PM Muliro, Jomo Kenyatta, Tom Mboya, D Mwanyumba and LRM Welwood.

The delegation from the Coastal Strip and Bajuni Lands comprised of Sheikh MA Alamoody, SJ Anjarwalla, OS Basaddiq, TM Chokwe, RP Cleasby, AM. Jeneby, Sheikh A Nassir and AJ Pandya.

“His Highness’ sole concern is for the welfare of his people. Before he could agree to any arrangement for their future government, he would wish to be satisfied that their institutions and way of life would be fully safeguarded,” the Sultan’s legal adviser said.

This was followed by a series of meetings, culminating in the October 5, 1963 letter by Mr Kenyatta to Mr Shamte accepting the Sultan’s conditions for ceding control of the strip to Kenya.

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere has defended the MRC, saying it was motivated by historical injustices.

“It does not mean that the objective of the MRC is to cause chaos, secede or refuse to vote. Theirs is just an expression of a possible solution for the injustice that they have continued to suffer,” Mr Mwakwere said in Kwale on Thursday.

At the same time, the Catholic Church has urged MRC members who attacked a polling station during mock elections in Malindi to return the gun they stole from a police officer.

“We call upon our brothers who participated in this violence to embrace peace and return the weapon taken from a government officer,” said Malindi Bishop Emmanuel Barbara.

Additional reporting by Amina Kibirige and Mike Kalama