Coast leaders pay Uhuru visit, pledge to preach peace

President Uhuru Kenyatta is ready to meet with Cord leader Raila Odinga for a national dialogue anywhere, but this should be done without the conditions demanded by the coalition’s principals.

This is one of the issues that transpired when the President met the Coast Parliamentary Group led by its chair and Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung’aro for about four hours at State House on Thursday.

According to some of the 24 MPs in attendance, President Uhuru was categorical that he would only meet the Cord coalition leadership on common grounds devoid of any chest-thumping, threats or manipulation.

One of the lawmakers who spoke to the Sunday Nation on condition of anonymity said the President was concerned and disturbed by inflammatory statements that could potentially incite the public to violence.

“President Uhuru said his statement on Tuesday attributing the two attacks at Mpeketoni to politically orchestrated campaigns did not mention anybody’s name,” the legislator said.

The formal statement issued by State House reported that the Parliamentary Group’s Chairman Gideon Mung’aro said they had agreed to move from constituency to constituency preaching peace and unity.

SPREAD THE MESSAGE OF PEACE

The MPs, the statement said, invited the President to accompany them in their trips to spread the message of peace to the residents in the Coast region.

“We will work with you and your government in uniting the people. We will tour the whole region to tell residents not to allow anyone to incite them into violence,” Mr Mung’aro said.

According to the statement, President Kenyatta said the Jubilee government will remain focused on ensuring Kenyans are united and live peacefully. He welcomed the legislators’ promise to work with the government on matters development, saying that is one way of creating jobs for the youth and ensuring residents receive efficient services.

“As leaders, our main duty is to unite all Kenyans and serve them without discrimination. In doing so, we will discourage negative elements from disrupting peace,” the President said.

The President said the government has started addressing the land problem in the Coast region and will not stop until it is completely solved.

According to MPs who attended the meeting, the leaders assured him of their support and pledged to work closely with the Jubilee government to achieve development in every corner of the region.

Speaking in a telephone interview, the Taita Taveta Woman Representative Joyce Lay (ODM) said that after the lengthy meeting, they agreed to carry out major peace rallies starting at Mpeketoni in Lamu and Tana River County.

“As the region’s leadership, we are disturbed by what happened at Mpeketoni, and that is why we requested President Uhuru to join us in massive peace campaigns to unite our people,” she said.

On the government’s claim that the raids were politically instigated, Ms Lay said they told the President to take action against those implicated in the wanton killings and destruction of property.

“We were very open to the President that we cannot support people bent on causing mayhem in any part of the country whether in Bungoma, Central or Narok because we know that will adversely affect the tourism industry which accounts for 60 per cent of Coast region’s earnings,” she said.

But Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir (ODM) told the Sunday Nation they met the President to engage the executive on pertinent issues affecting not only the region but also the country.

According to him, the main agenda was security which was crucial for the development and growth of the country’s economy.

He said they expressed their concern that the security machinery needs to be overhauled and the President should take full charge of the docket and personally monitor the security situation countrywide.

Mr Nassir informed the President of his intention to institute impeachment motions against those not delivering services to the people.

However, those interviewed did not give a timeframe on when the constituency-to-constituency peace meetings will begin.

Other items discussed by the 24 Members of Parliament were the revival of Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited, Cashewnut Factory, Mariakani Milk Processors and sharing of revenue from the Port of Mombasa.