Karua asks MRC to drop secession calls

Narc Kenya presidential aspirant Martha Karua on Wednesday pleaded with the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) to drop its secession demand.

She said though the group had genuine grievances on unemployment, resources and land ownership, breaking away from Kenya was not the solution.

“The solution is to participate fully in the coming elections and make sure you put into leadership the correct people who are credible and capable, people who will bring the change that you have desired,” said Ms Karua when she opened the 28th Annual Seminar of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants at Sai Rock Beach Hotel in Mombasa.”

Ms Karua, who is also the party’s leader, is the third presidential aspirant in a week to address the MRC issue.

At the weekend, Mr Raila Odinga of ODM and Mr Musalia Mudavadi of UDF said they will use Parliament to engage the group.

Their parties have since moved separate motions in Parliament seeking to set up a select committee to address the issue.

But the outlawed group has rejected these moves, describing them as ‘‘cheap politics’’.

It insists that it will only hold talks with the government if it is legalised.

Chairman Omar Mwamunuadzi on Wednesday said MPs and presidential candidates would not tackle the region’s problems in the next five years.

“The problems of the region have been there since independence. These leaders have been in the system and have not offered solutions. We believe the problems will be solved by MRC,” Mr Mwamunuadzi said.

He said politicians were only fighting for votes from the region and were not interested in resolving its problems.

The group also demanded that talks with the government dwell on secession of the region and not finding solutions to their grievances.

At Sai Rock, Ms Karua criticised President Kibaki for unilaterally appointing and deploying county commissioners saying it was unconstitutional.

“The 6th Schedule of the Constitution only talks about restructuring the Provincial Administration in tandem, never deployment. It’s not like the Teachers Service Commission which posts teachers to schools. There has to be a policy paper and legislation where Kenyans engage. Not the way President Kibaki did it,” she said.

She criticised the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission budget of Sh31 billion saying it was one of the ways where “elite Kenyans rob the poor of their taxes in order to go on a spending spree”.

When President Kibaki assumed power in 2002, she said, the electoral body’s budget was only Sh290 million and questioned how and why it had suddenly “bulged to unimaginable figures”.

Ms Karua insisted that elections had to be held in December this year because the Constitution stipulates so.

“The Constitution talks of (elections every) five and not six years. They now want to take us to the sixth year and this is illegal and the height of impunity. Even though it was a court decision, we as Kenyans have our right of opinion,” she said.

Ms Karua said she would make the best president of Kenya

“I want to be the best Chief Executive Officer in Africa. My government will be a government like no other. I will dismantle the forts of corruption and impunity that are now unfortunately the official brand and identification of Kenya. I will untangle Kenyans from the bondage of poverty, impunity and hopelessness to a people full of hope and prosperity,” she said.