MRC opposes plan to hear cases in city

The Mombasa Republican Council has opposed an Appeal Court decision to hear its cases in Nairobi on November 18.

MRC said it objected to the cases being heard in the city since all the six counties in the Coast have competent courts to hear them, it said in a statement signed yesterday by nine of its top officials.

The cases were moved to the Appeal Court after the group petitioned against an earlier ruling by the High Court in Mombasa on December 20, 2012.

MRC had challenged the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and the government over the March 4 General Election and for declaring the MRC an illegal outfit.

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MRC had also demanded a national referendum for secession, claiming that the Coast was not part of Kenya.

The letter from the Court of Appeal, dated October 24, says: “Take notice that this appeal will be heard on Monday the 18th day of November 2013 at 9am in the forenoon or so soon thereafter as may be convenient.”

The letter adds: “If any party shall fail to appear, whether in person or by advocate or by some other person authorised by law to appear on his behalf, the matter may be heard in your absence.”

But in their statement, MRC officials say the group has more than three million supporters at the Coast who would like to attend the court hearing.

“We would like to inform everyone that we have already written a letter permitting our advocate to appeal for the cases to be brought back to appeal courts in the Coast,” says the statement.

They said the days of everything being done in Nairobi were over, describing the court’s decision to hear the cases in Nairobi as “unjust because there was devolution of power under the new Constitution”.

“Asking us to transport the more than 3 million supporters to Nairobi will be too expensive and a violation of our constitutional right. Coast has courts in Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Lamu, Tana River and Taita Taveta,” they said.