MRC leaders divided over meeting with Uhuru

Controversy and divisions have come in the way of the intended meeting between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Mombasa Republican Council after sections of the groups raised suspicions in the motive of the organisers.

Mr Joseph Mwarandu, Malindi District Cultural Association (MDCA) secretary, said professionals organising the event and using the Mijikenda nine sub-tribes’ Kaya elders for political, social and economic gains.

In particular, he pointed out the recent meeting in Mombasa State House organised by the Mijikenda Council of Elders Association (MCEA) secretary-general, Mr Vincent Mwachiru in which the elders held a closed door meeting with President Kenyatta.

Sources privy to the meeting told the Sunday Nation that the President agreed to meet the “outlawed” secessionist group on condition it renounced violence and calls for separation from the rest of Kenya.

“We don’t know how or why the (elders) were taken to State House without involving all stake holders and interested parties that have fought to unite the Kaya elders into a formidable entity,” Mr Mwarandu said in a telephone interview.

He said MCEA is putting the elders in a “precarious situation” which could backfire on them.

Coastal professionals and politicians, Mr Mwarandu said, have of recent used the Kaya elders for selfish purposes.

“If they have the elders’ interests at heart, they will not engage in secrecy when dealing with issues involving the Mijikenda sub-tribes,” he said.

When contacted, Mr Mwachiru denied the allegations saying they had no “ulterior motive” but genuine concerns over the MRC issue that had become a thorny-in-flesh for the government, the locals and the international community.

“President Kenyatta is ready to meet MRC leaders and listen to their grievances and what we are still waiting for is the date and venue from the regional commissioner to broker the talks,” he said in a telephone interview.

Mr Mwachiru also said he believes President Kenyatta is a “beacon of hope” for resolving the community’s historical injustices before Kenya kicks off Golden jubilee celebrations.

However, Pwani University don Prof Gabriel Katana said the move is not in tandem with the issue of Pwani si Kenya (Pwani not Kenya), the driving force of the MRC since its establishment in 1999.

“After seeing the President, will there be an answer to the Pwani si Kenya issue or will it be the same old story of dishing out title deeds without focusing on the empowerment of the nine communities?” he poses.

The don said the tactic was employed by past regimes of President Moi and President Kibaki to distribute titles just before the general elections to garner support and votes from the region.

The professor wants the President to be categorical on the process of how the region will continue to get the title deeds from the county lands offices without ordering either the Lands cabinet secretary or the National Lands Commission.

Although MRC is ready to meet the President, its secretary-general Mr Randu Nzai is concerned about the two pending cases – Attorney General’s appeal against their legality and the case against the Court of Appeal which has declined to register their case.

According to the secretary-general they don’t know how the cases will play out on the intended talks with the President because it is the same government challenging the group’s legitimacy.

In July 2012, the High Court in Mombasa ruled that the government’s ban on the MRC was unconstitutional, lifting the imposed ban on its activities by gazette notice number 12585 from October 2010 that declared the group along with 32 other groups.

Since its establishment to address the issue of marginalisation of the Coast region, the MRC began to call for secession in 2008 which is based on what the group argues to be historical grounds that reflected in their rallying cry Pwani si Kenya (Coast is not part of Kenya).

Their grievances include a lack of employment opportunities in the region, issues with land tenure for the indigenous people of the coast (in contrast to title deeds issued to people who have settled there from other parts of Kenya) and the harassment and arbitrary arrests of its members by Kenyan security forces.

The group’s leadership wants the chief Justice to rein on its officers so that they can get a date with the Court of Appeal judges to argue their case against the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

“We trust in Kenya’s court that is why we have filed the case but the court registrar is frustrating us because for a month now we have been chasing the date in vain so we want the CJ to intervene,” he says adding that the government’s case to repeal their legality will be heard on November 18.

On Friday, eight suspected MRC members were arraigned in Kwale County court on charges of organising an illegal meeting with the intention of causing havoc. The accused (four men and four women) were alleged to have been arrested while in possession of five membership cards, three membership registers and one manifest.