Raila backs court’s ruling on MRC ban

Prime Minister Raila Odinga has backed a High Court ruling lifting the ban on the Mombasa Republican Council. But he cautioned that the ruling should not be misconstrued as an approval of secession.

The government outlawed the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) in 2010, describing it as a “criminal group”. Speaking to Sunday Nation on Saturday, Mr Odinga said the court decision should open the way for dialogue and formal engagement with government.

“They should renounce their demands for secession and dialogue with government. The court said that the Mombasa Republican Council should apply for formal recognition and pursue their interests within the law,” he said.

The PM’s declaration was in conflict with a move by the office of the Attorney-General which has said it would appeal the High Court’s ruling that the ban was unconstitutional.

The major concern is that the ruling could embolden the group push for secession.

The group accuses the government of marginalising indigenous ethnic groups living along the Indian Ocean coast, which is also the centre of Kenya’s tourism.

Mr Odinga noted that MRC grievances—including land distribution, unemployment, historical injustices, and authoritarianism— were not isolated.

“The same situation obtains in North Eastern Province, Turkana, Pokot, Samburu and Marakwet. There are even landless people in Central Province,” he said. He reassured Coast residents that their grievances would be addressed by the new Constitution as well as a government development programme.

“Let us come up with a blueprint for development of the Coast region and ensure that its problems are addressed.”

Mr Odinga spoke as Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko asked police commissioner Matthew Iteere to furnish him with details on all prosecutions relating to suspected members of the Mombasa Republican Council at the Coast.

Mr Tobiko said Wednesday’s landmark High Court decision declaring that the MRC is not a proscribed organisation would have an impact on numerous cases brought against members.

Some who had been charged under the Prevention of Crimes Act only with being members of a banned group are likely to be released. But those whose charges related to a degree of criminality and not to mere membership will likely see their cases go forward.    

“Obviously the judgment has a significant bearing on many ongoing prosecutions relating to the Mombasa Republican Council,” Mr Tobiko told the Sunday Nation.

“But the High Court decision was clear that the judgment did not grant a license to people to engage in criminal activity. Some cases are based on criminal acts such as disrupting the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission mock voting exercise or snatching guns from policemen, and these can still be sustained.”

Mr Tobiko said the files would be reviewed case by case and conceded that individuals only charged with being members are likely to have their cases terminated.

Political analyst Owen Baya described the court’s decision as a “death knell” for the group because it will lack the “rebel tag” that was its driving force across the region.

“This ruling has stopped the snowballing of the council as the verdict has given the group a rope to hang itself through the court’s caveats,” said Mr Baya, a Pwani University College lecturer, in a phone interview.

Incitement to violence

While lifting the ban in Wednesday’s judgment, Justices John Mwera, Mary Kasango and Francis Tuiyot ruled that the group’s “agitation for secession” might constitute hate speech or incitement to violence under the Constitution. This will curtail the group’s use of their slogan “Pwani si Kenya”.

Initially, the leadership welcomed the judgment, but after details of its implications sank in, they denounced the ruling, saying the court had failed to address its core demands.

Organising-secretary Mohammed Mraja said they would soon issue a statement.

Lawyer Kibe Mungai said the court had overstepped its mandate by “making suggestions on how the republican council should actualise its desires”.