Former MRC member faults ban reversal
Former Mombasa Republican Council member Amani Chifwete (centre) from Kisauni speaks on July 28, 2016. He condemned a decision by the Court of Appeal to lift a ban on the group. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Amani Chifwete, who quit the Mombasa Republican Council in 2012, challenged the timing of the ruling.
Mr Chifwete, who was in charge of the controversial group in Kisauni, said the ruling will stir the relative calm in the region and scare away voters.
He said because of the injustices meted out to the coastal people, the decision might trigger enrolment in the “misguided group”.
A former member of Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) has criticised the Court of Appeal decision to lift a six-year ban on the group, saying it will encourage secessionists to engage in activities detrimental to the economic and political prosperity of the coast.
Mr Amani Chifwete, who quit the group in 2012, also challenged the timing of the ruling.
“We read mischief and an early ploy to disrupt elections,” said Mr Chifwete. “MRC has been reawakened, as if by magic, due to the Appeals Court ruling.”
Mr Chifwete, who was in charge of the controversial group in Kisauni, said the ruling will stir the relative calm in the region and scare away voters. He said because of the injustices meted out to the coastal people, the decision might trigger enrolment in the “misguided group”.
Mr Chifwete said: “You cannot allow a charter pilot to fly a Boeing simply because he is a pilot”.
He said: “I was among the top pioneers of MRC, whose original aim was to champion coast-based issues of injustices through peaceful legal means. I left the group after the idea of secession and boycotting elections was introduced by uneducated individuals with a military mind. I therefore call upon the youth to drop this ideology of boycotting elections”.
This comes two days after MRC officials welcomed the ruling.
MRC deputy spokesman Richard Lewa then said the group had not changed its stand that “Pwani si Kenya” (the coast is not part of Kenya) and called for immediate talks with the government.
“We are a peace-loving group that follows and values the rule of law. That is why, for the past five years our cases were in court, we remained patient,” he said.
Mr Lewa asked members to get voters cards “and decide whether to vote or not”.
He reiterated that MRC is not a terrorist group as claimed but criminals could have used its name to commit atrocities.
In Kwale town, Gombato/Bongwe Ward Rep Omar Boga told journalists on Thursday the judgment ought to be taken with a pinch of salt, saying it might be a gimmick to make coast residents not to register as voters and be banned after the general election.
